Whew!
The dark web doesn’t have your Steam account on it, Valve has confirmed in a news post after a report on LinkedIn claimed there was a massive data breach of more than 89 million users.
“You may have seen reports of leaks of older text messages that had previously been sent to Steam customers,” Valve wrote. “We have examined the leak sample and have determined this was NOT a breach of Steam systems.”
The original report happened a few days ago by LinkedIn user Underdark.ai and was picked up by X user Mellow_Online1 today. Underdark.ai’s post said a dark web forum user claimed to have a dataset of over 89 million Steam accounts that they were selling for $5,000. They said the user had “sample data” for proof and a Telegram number to call if anyone was interested in buying them.
According to Valve, what they actually had was logs of text messages that come with a 2FA code to enter when you log into Steam. Those codes are only active for 15 minutes and aren’t tied to your Steam account, password, payment information, or any other personal data. The only thing they do include is a phone number.
“Old text messages cannot be used to breach the security of your Steam account, and whenever a code is used to change your Steam email or password using SMS, you will receive a confirmation via email and/or Steam secure messages,” Valve wrote. “You do not need to change your passwords or phone numbers as a result of this event.”
Now that we can all breathe again, it’s worth remembering how important it is to keep your Steam account secure. I’ve got the entire Sam & Max series on mine—as well as hundreds of other games—so you should join me in keeping that library locked up tight. Valve recommends checking the authorized devices page on Steam regularly to make sure nobody else is accessing your account and to have the Steam Mobile Authenticator set up.
And If I could add one more tip: Get a password manager like 1Password. It’s worth it for the security of having complex passwords and the convenience of not having to type “6Zm#vR&LUVH%#B” from memory.
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