Valve Enhances Steam Security After Malware Hits Game Creators

In a nutshell, Valve, the company behind popular gaming platform Steam, has boosted its security protocols in the wake of a recent string of malware attacks on game developers. Valve's new measures include obliging developers to verify their identity through SMS before they're able to publish new versions of their games or add users. The news first emerged via GameDiscoverCo newsletter founder, Simon Carless, who shared a communication from Valve on the social media platform X (alias for Twitter). In the shared screenshot, Valve confirms that targeted developers, whose accounts were manipulated to insert malware into game builds, have been informed. It appears that under 100 Steam users have been affected by these malware attacks, as they had installed maliciously modified games. Valve made sure to get in touch with those users to alert them to the incident. One of the victims of these attacks was indie game developer Benoît Freslon, the creator of RTS game NanoWar: Cells VS Virus. He shared his experiences, disclosing that hackers had pilfered his browser access tokens. Freslon added that 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) proved futile as tokens remain active within the web browser. Valve's blog post revealed forthcoming alterations to developers' game build management in its API Steamworks. These new security steps will also apply whenever a developer invites new users to their Steamworks group but won't affect unreleased games or updated beta versions. The revised security procedures, which demand a phone number connected with the Steamworks account, will kick in from October 24.