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Hacker breaches Twitch data, exposes sensitive information online

By Jonna Lorenz

Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Video game streaming platform Twitch suffered a data breach Wednesday, and hackers shared sensitive information on online chat forum 4chan.

Twitch confirmed the breach on Twitter.

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"Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this," the tweet reads. "We will update the community as soon as additional information is available."

A person claiming responsibility for the hack posted to 4chan, claiming to have access to Twitch source code, internal security tools and creator payouts.

The files shared online include apparent payment information for hundreds of thousands of streamers, NBC News reported.

The user said they carried out the attack to hurt Twitch's business.

"Their community is also a disgusting toxic cesspool, so to foster more disruption and competition in the online video streaming space, we have completely pwned them," the user posted.

Amazon bought Twitch in 2014 for $970 million. Previously known as Justin.tv, the platform averages more than 2.5 million viewers at any given time, and more than 7 million creators stream live videos each month, the company said.

The 4chan user posed a photo of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos along with the message, "Jeff Bezos paid $970 million for this, we're giving it away FOR FREE."

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Twitch streamer Scott Hellyer told the Wall Street Journal that information about his payouts was exposed.

"I really hope that no major personal info (Full names, emails, address, phone number, banking info) gets out in the rumored next part of the leak," Hellyer wrote in a message to the WSJ. "I'll take the heat if people are surprised about how much I make in the coming days, and try to have an open dialog about it."

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