This so-called leak is nothing more than a "fart in a puddle."

You may have seen some news circulating around tech websites today that gave you a scare. Headlines similar to "89 Million Steam user records leaked in massive data breach" started to pop up everywhere, often accompanied by warnings about how you should change your passwords right now!

First off, calm down. Secondly, it looks like there really isn't much to worry about at all.

Earlier today, someone going by the alias of Machine1337 claims to be in possession of over 89 million Steam user records. This person was offering to sell this data for a mere $5,000. The fact that the person was asking for just $5,000 on what would theoretically be a goldmine of data should have sent up immediate red flags that maybe the claims from the alleged leaker were complete fabrications.

Christopher Kunz, a security expert working for heise Security, took a look at the publicly shared data from this alleged Steam security breach. According to what Kunz saw, the bad threat actor isn't selling Steam user data, they're trying to sell "89 million SMS send log records."

Kunz does continue with a pretty big "but" to his opening statement. He says that while Steam users have nothing to really worry about, the data is pretty recent and contains phone numbers. The data also seems to include SMS based verification codes. However, those codes almost always expire within 60 seconds of being created. They are also useless without knowing someone's username and password as well.

He concludes that he simply cannot see any real use for the data in this "leak" other than using the phone numbers for phishing attempts. So while you won't have to rush to change your Steam password, you should be mindful of people trying to obtain your Steam password in other ways, such as through social engineering. Be smart and mindful. Valve employees will never ask for your password.

Furthermore, make sure to use unique passwords across all websites and services. When possible, make sure to enable 2FA as well.