Twitch users are suddenly advised to renew their passwords after news of an apparent account hacking led the company to promptly erase password information of every account. Twitch hasn't issued confirmation that a hacking incident did happen but all signs point out to a break-in into a possibly high-level account in the system. Though the issue is not specifically labelled as an attack directly on Twitch, it is significant enough for the company to push the password reset button for every single Twitch account.
However, what confuses users is the response made by Twitch to shorten password minimum length from 20 characters to eight because users say more than eight character passwords are 'unweildy.'. The strange, seemingly counter-intuitive move was forced onto the company because of public demand. However, even though the password minimum length is shortened to eight characters, there are ways to protect accounts properly.
First is to start using strong passwords. The first line of defense in an account is its password however in Twitch, the password is the only defense people have. Creating mediocre and weak passwords is like securing a safe, full of billions worth of diamonds with band aids. If planning to do some online subscriptions and start buying items over the internet, make sure purchasing accounts have passwords that are not one's birthdate or any word coming from the dictionary.
Second is to stop memorizing passwords and halt the abominable, unholy practice of using same passwords for every account. Using identical usernames and passwords for different accounts is like having only one key for every room in the house.
After stating the two important tips on securing a twitch account, the solution is to use a good, password managing software. These are programs that does the creation and memorization of passwords for multiple accounts. It increase the safety of accounts considerably and help users manage and securely store encrypted passwords relieving the user of memorizing long strings of random characters.
Mark James, ESET security specialist told CNET that 'gaming sites have always been lucrative targets,' pointing to the vulnerability of sites such as Twitch to hacking attacks. James further said, 'there's no perfect advice for when your details are stolen but changing your password is certainly one of the best.'
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