Steam, one of the world's largest distribution networks for online video games, has been attacked by hackers, posing a threat for the estimated 35 million accounts registered in the network.

Valve, the company behind the network Steam, released a statement that the company has found an intrusion that went "beyond steam forums". According to Valve company head Gabe Netwell, the hackers were able to obtain access to Steam database that contains "relevant information like user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, e-mail addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information". Presently, there is still no news regarding a compromise in credit card information or misuse but company officials say that they are looking closely at it. They also released this statement stating "We don't have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely."

Presently, the gaming service for Steam is still working but the forums in the said site have been shut down for security precaution. Steam users who are registered in the forums are required to change their passwords the next time they log in. The company also advised users to change their passwords for other non-Steam accounts that contain the same password as the one that they use in the Steam forums. This is to prevent hackers from accessing personal accounts that were victimized by this attack. Affected customers were also advised to ensure that they have an anti-virus installed and updated so that if ever a malware was discovered due to the hacking, it would be easily detected and solved.

This is not the first time hackers have managed to gain access in the gaming world. Hackers were also able to breach in Sony's PlayStation network which led to stealing of relevant personal information of users including financial data. There were about 77 million accounts that were affected due to this and 1.5 million accounts affected were Australian accounts.

Gabe Newell mentioned his feelings towards this situation through the company statement remarking that he was "truly sorry" that it happened. Newell also gave an apology for any inconvenience that this hacking caused.