Valve ups Steam security following malware hacks
After a recent wave of malware attacks, which targeted Steam users through the games they downloaded, Valve has tightened security measures on Steam.
12th Oct 2023 20:41
Images via Valve
Valve ups Steam security following malware hacks
After a recent wave of malware attacks, which targeted Steam users through the games they downloaded, Valve has tightened security measures on Steam.
12th Oct 2023 20:41
Images via Valve
After a recent wave of malware attacks, which targeted Steam users through the games they downloaded, Valve has tightened security measures on Steam.
According to PCGamer, the attacks reportedly affected less than 100 users, however Valve is taking action to prevent the same thing happening in the future.
Valve has tightened security measures after malware attacks
Game developers have been targeted to allow games on Steam to be affected with malware which is installed when the software is played.
Players affected by the attack were contacted via Valve, in a letter which was shared on Twitter by Simon Carless from GameDiscoverCo.
The letter said: “We are contacting you because you recently launched [the affected game] on Steam. The Steam account for the developer of this game was recently compromised and the attackers uploaded a new build that contained malware.
“The build containing the suspected malware was promptly reverted and purged from Steam, but we strongly encourage you to run a full-system scan using an anti-virus product that you trust or use regularly, and inspect your system for unexpected or newly installed software. You may also consider fully reformatting your operating system to ensure that no malicious software remains on your machine.”
Alongside this information, the letter provides the time period that the software was affected for.
How has security changed on Steam?
The update, which is set to come into effect on 24 October, changes how builds will be managed in Steamworks and how new users are added to Steamworks partners.
The biggest change which is being made by Valve is the requirement for all developers to have a phone number attached to their account. This is so that confirmation codes can be sent as a form of two-factor authentication.
Many developers are not pleased about requiring phone numbers, stating that they would prefer email or Multi-factor authentication as alternatives.
One of the impacted developers, Benoît Freslon, who developed the NanoWar: Cells VS Virus, stated under Carless’ tweet that two-factor authentication would not help in his case, as the hackers had access to his Steam tokens.
“I'm the developer of this game,” wrote Freslon. “All of my accounts were hacked by a Token Grabber Malware. Unfortunately, the 2FA i s useless if the token is still active. I just used my dev account to release the game a few hours before the hack I suppose.”
He added: “Ironically, in my game, players fight viruses…”
About The Author
Megan Cooke
Megan is GGRecon's Evening & Weekend News Writer. She has an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing and is working towards finishing her masters in Journalism. When she isn’t writing about games she can be found reading romance novels or playing cosy games like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, APICO, and Disney Dreamlight Valley.
