Back in 2011, Gabe Newell showed that the most secure Steam account needed was more than just a password.
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13 years ago the clocks ticked a little differently, also when it came to safety. This is shown by an Intel event on March 4, 2011 as part of the Cebit in Hanover, in which Valve boss Gabe Newell also took part.
While Cebit is long gone, Gabe Newell is still at the helm of Valve. But why did he reveal his Steam account login details to the whole world, as seen in the video below?
The answer is Steam Guard
.
Link to YouTube content
New on Steam back then, now standard everywhere
The additional layer of protection for Steam accounts entered the public beta phase exactly 13 years ago, as in the official news from back then can be read.
The basic idea behind it is the now ubiquitous two-factor authentication (2FA).
Instead of being able to log in on any device if you know the user name and password of an account, on new devices you also have to enter a temporarily valid code, which you receive by email (or more commonly today: via smartphone or app). .
The presentation of Steam Guard at Cebit also came about through the collaboration with Intel, which touted hardware-based authentication in the form of Identity Protection Technology (IPT) as an alternative. However, the 2FA approach prevailed completely independently of this.
Newell's account probably remained untouched
You can find the settings for Steam Guard in the “Security” section of the Steam client.
Gabe Newell's credentials were [email protected]
with the password MoofyFTW
. The latter refers to the nickname of Intel employee Shmuel Eden, who led Intel's Cebit event at the time. He left the company four years later.
If someone ever managed to gain unauthorized access to Newell's Steam account, it was never made public. Unsurprisingly, the above-mentioned access data is no longer valid after 13 years, as a short login attempt shows.
You can find out how best to protect your game accounts via 2FA, among other things, here:
Security tips for players – protect accounts and system
Now you're asked: Did you already know the story about Gabe Newell's public access data on Steam? Do you feel sufficiently protected by the now ubiquitous two-factor authentication for all your accounts? And what other security measures do you use, such as using a password manager? Feel free to write it in the comments!