The Steam Cache Issue Thread of Panic

[Tara]

So in light of the panic over Steam's issues, I decided to make a topic where people can get a better idea of what's going on and discuss it in a less hectic manner so that other subjects won't be washed away in the ensuing chaos in the status updates.

Here's the rundown.  The cache on Steam's servers are completely broken and are causing people to be logged into the wrong accounts.  The problem is that logging into the wrong account has also allowed people to view the personal information of people within that account, which is a pretty scary thing.

Well, if you're like me, you don't like your identity being stolen.  So what can you do?  If you haven't logged onto Steam today, you're probably fine.  If you're on Steam now, log off and stay off until the all clear is given.  Chances are you will be fine, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

I want to emphasize that this was not a security breach.  Steam was not hacked or otherwise maliciously attacked.  This is a serious service error, but not a result of illegal activity.

Current status:  It looks like after an hour or more of this going on and several remedies that didn't work, Steam is now offline until the problem is resolved.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

This is a complete and utter fucking disaster. Words actively don't describe the amount of incompetence that's been shown with this fucking mess. Valve should have shutdown Steam the second they caught wind of the entire mess, not a full hour after it was discovered.

But the current situation is I believe Steam is now offline, with only friends lists, and online games working.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Ryannumber1Santa

[Tara]

This is a complete and utter fucking disaster. Words actively don't describe the amount of incompetence that's been shown with this fucking mess. Valve should have shutdown Steam the second they caught wind of the entire mess, not a full hour after it was discovered.

But the current situation is I believe Steam is now offline, with only friends lists, and online games working.

I couldn't even get onto the website, so I don't know if even those two things are up.

[spinny]

I was playing a game for quite a while then when I came off I saw this had been going on for about 15 minutes... I really hope everything ends well, I went back online really quick a few minutes ago to tell a friend who was playing a game to come off but aside from that I'm staying away from Steam completely until it all cleans up.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Spinny

[Ratcicle King]

They are, I managed to go there, only there, the only thing not working is the main store for me.

[Wraith]

This is a complete and utter fucking disaster. Words actively don't describe the amount of incompetence that's been shown with this fucking mess. Valve should have shutdown Steam the second they caught wind of the entire mess, not a full hour after it was discovered.

But the current situation is I believe Steam is now offline, with only friends lists, and online games working.

Considering what day it is, there was probably nobody there to shut it down. Surprised they got it under control in an hour, all things considered. This is probably the worst possible day for something like this to happen on.

 

Still a fucking mess and shouldn't have happened, I agree there. 

Edited December 25, 2015 by Wraith

[TCB]

For  PayPal/debit/credit cards and if able, with information tied to Steam, unlink your card info directly from the card/service's website. Since Steam is down now though and you wasn't able to before it did, hope no foul play occurs with your account.

Man this is just a disaster. Ever since 2013 Christmas Day been a bane of video game online services. 

Edited December 25, 2015 by TCB

[Haalyle]

Ugh, this should not have happened!

Anyway, I've logged myself out and quit the client quite some time ago, ain't messing around with it, that's for sure. Although, I don't have any important information, to be honest.

[Tara]

It's because of issues like these that I never check "Save my payment info" when I'm buying games.

[Haalyle]

It's because of issues like these that I never check "Save my payment info" when I'm buying games.

I use Steam money cards rather than my own credit card because I don't trust that information on the internet. And after this, I'm definitely not putting that kind of information on Steam.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

So even if we haven't logged into today, should we check to make sure no one managed to do something to our accounts (change passwords or something), or are we fine?

[Tara]

So even if we haven't logged into today, should we check to make sure no one managed to do something to our accounts (change passwords or something), or are we fine?

Once the all-clear is given, yes, you should definitely make sure everything is in place and change your passwords while you're at it, even if you haven't logged in.  You're most likely 100% fine, but again, never hurts to be too careful.

[TCB]

It's because of issues like these that I never check "Save my payment info" when I'm buying games.

I'll join this club by agreeing with this. 

[JezMM]

Considering there's no way to view your card information, there isn't much risk here other than perhaps really nasty people doing anything like unfriending your friends or messing around in online games of yours (and if it's an online game with a secondary login page, no dice).  Still not a nice thing to happen of course, but there's no way a random person logged in could access your card info, and with the store down, they couldn't even make random purchases to troll you etc (and now that Steam refunds are a thing, even such damage could be reversed).

[TCB]

Steam confirmed that this wasn't due to them getting hacked....and that's all on that front.

Edited December 25, 2015 by TCB

[Haalyle]

Oh, I knew it wasn't hacked.

But when I'll probably go and change things anyway, better to be safe then sorry.

[kimplix]

For  PayPal/debit/credit cards and if able, with information tied to Steam, unlink your card info directly from the card/service's website. 

That's going to be impossible for me to do since store page is down. I'm not even sure if guard and authentication is going to help either on my account.

[Kaze no Klonoa]

At the moment though, a lot of us should be safe for now. Only thing still up on the site are some of the Community pages (mainly profiles, etc.). If you're still on Steam it's 100% safe to continue playing whatever you are playing at the moment, since that's not affected whatsoever.

[Tara]

Considering there's no way to view your card information, there isn't much risk here other than perhaps really nasty people doing anything like unfriending your friends or messing around in online games of yours (and if it's an online game with a secondary login page, no dice).  Still not a nice thing to happen of course, but there's no way a random person logged in could access your card info, and with the store down, they couldn't even make random purchases to troll you etc (and now that Steam refunds are a thing, even such damage could be reversed).

I'm pretty sure they could still see things like the name of the cardholder, home address, etc. could they not?  That was my main concern since I figured the actual card number would be asterisked out anyway.

[Kaze no Klonoa]

Most of Steam is back up now, but I highly advise not purchasing anything. Steam is still having trouble communicating with servers.

[Speeps]

I'd feel sorry if someone got into my account.

If they saw how much of a Sonic Hell my profile was they'd probably foam at the mouth.

[Haalyle]

Most of Steam is back up now, but I highly advise not purchasing anything. Steam is still having trouble communicating with servers.

So, would it be safe to just login in on the Steam Client?

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I'd feel sorry if someone got into my account.

If they saw how much of a Sonic Hell my profile was they'd probably foam at the mouth.

Mine to. Theres Sonic everywhere on mine XD

[TCB]

Steam Store back online, correct account info restored.

...So...reimbursement for users who caught in this hell when?

Edited December 25, 2015 by TCB

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Steam Store back online, correct account info restored.

...So...reimbursement for users who caught in this hell when?

Knowing Steam, we might get a voucher code for 10% a crap game.