Business Updates: ‘Potentially Disastrous’ Data Breach Hits Twitch

Ekram Ahmed, a spokesman for Check Point, a cybersecurity company, said that it was the company’s “strong suspicion” that Twitch’s code had truly been leaked, which was “potentially disastrous.”

“It opens a gigantic door for evildoers to find cracks in the system, lace malware and potentially steal sensitive information,” he said.

The incident sent Twitch’s community of streamers into a panic.

Kaitlyn Siragusa, known to her 4.4 million followers as Amouranth, said in a text message that it was “quite shocking so much information could be breached.” Saqib Zahid, who streams to his 2.8 million followers as Lirik, said in a Twitter direct message that the incident was “frustrating,” but he was “not surprised.” Natalia Mogollon, known as Alinity online, said via a Twitter direct message that her reaction was “disappointment.”

And Félix Lengyel, one of the top earners and most notable personalities on the platform, simply tweeted in all-caps: “HEY @TWITCH EXPLAIN?”

According to the list of earnings, which could not be independently verified, some notable personalities had made millions of dollars since 2019. Some streamers confirmed their numbers were accurate — though others disputed the figures.

“All data in there on me is 100% true in terms of payout value info,” tweeted Scott Hellyer, a streamer who goes by tehMorag. “This is real and will impact people for years.”

Another streamer, Hasan Piker, anticipated people getting angry about the amount of money the list said he had made.

The 4chan user included the hashtag #DoBetterTwitch, a variation of the hashtag #TwitchDoBetter that has been used in recent months by members of the Twitch community after the proliferation of so-called hate raids, in which users bombard streamers, particularly women and people of color, with abusive and offensive messages.

Independent cybersecurity researchers said they were analyzing the data and combing the so-called dark web in order to figure out what had happened.

“Twitch leak is real. Includes significant amount of personal data,” tweeted Kevin Beaumont, a cybersecurity researcher. “If the people involved truly want to fight toxicity in gaming, they might want to look into a mirror as that kind of leak is toxic behavior.”

• Lawmakers have gotten smarter about tech. Lawmakers in the hearing explored the role that Facebook’s algorithms play in amplifying problematic content, and the way in which the company consistently tweaks its algorithm to choose one type of content over another.

  That’s far more sophisticated than the kinds of questions lawmakers have previously asked about Facebook. (Remember when, a few years ago, some lawmakers didn’t know how the company made money?) And while past hearings have focused on specific issues such as speech online or whether a certain individual or idea should be banned from the platforms, the discussion in Tuesday’s hearing was broader and touched on many facets of the active role that Facebook plays in the pieces of content that it promotes.

  That was buttressed by Ms. Haugen’s candor. She used knowledge of Facebook’s technology to explain how the algorithms work in layman’s language, and started a nuanced discussion on what lawmakers could do going forward.

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Whistle-Blower Warns of Foreign Influence on Facebook

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, said during testimony before the Senate that foreign governments, including China and Iran, were using the platform to conduct surveillance and espionage operations.

“During my time working with the threat intelligence org, so I was a product manager supporting the threat, the counterespionage team, my team directly worked on tracking Chinese participation on the platform, surveilling, say, Uyghur populations in places around the world, that you could actually find the Chinese based on them doing these kinds of things.” “So facebook? I’m sorry.” “We also saw active participation of, say, the Iran government doing espionage on other state actors. So this is definitely a thing that is happening. And I believe Facebook’s consistent understaffing of the counterespionage information operations and counterterrorism teams is a national security issue. And I’m speaking to other parts of Congress about that.” “So you are saying in essence, that the platform, whether Facebook knows it or not, is being utilized by some of our adversaries in a way that helps push and promote their interests at the expense of America’s.” “Yes, Facebook is very aware that this is happening on the platform, and I believe the fact that Congress doesn’t get a report of exactly how many people are working on these things internally is unacceptable because you have a right to keep the American people safe.”

• Facebook is sitting on an even larger mountain of internal research. The thousands of documents provided by Ms. Haugen to lawmakers are likely just the tip of the iceberg. In her testimony, she encouraged lawmakers to demand more documents and internal research from Facebook, stating that it was only through complete transparency that Congress could hope to understand and eventually regulate social media.

  Ms. Haugen also hinted that there was more to come from her. During the hearing, she mentioned that she was speaking to a separate congressional committee on how Facebook has understaffed critical security teams that monitor whether countries were using the platform to spy on one another and run disinformation campaigns. She said the company was failing to adequately protect against threats emerging from China, Iran, Russia and other countries.

Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress are engaged in an escalating standoff with Senate Republicans, who agree the debt limit must be raised in the coming weeks to avoid default, but who are blocking an up-or-down vote to do so. The Republicans want Democrats to use a special process in the Senate to bypass their filibuster, which Democrats have resisted. Mr. Biden has called the Republicans’ actions irresponsible and tried, and failed, to shame them into allowing a vote.

The report released on Wednesday offered a detailed and near-apocalyptic rundown of White House fears of how a default on the debt — which would come when the government is unable to pay everyone it owes money to at once — would ripple through the economy.

The officials warn that even the threat of a default in 2011 pushed up mortgage rates for home buyers for months, and that an actual default could elevate them even further this time. They also say retirees, Medicare beneficiaries, members of the military and millions of other people who depend on federal payments could see their means of support cut off “quickly, even overnight in some cases.”

They also say some critical federal services — like forecasts from the National Weather Service or time keeping from the National Institute of Standards and Technology — could be disrupted for lack of funds.

Mr. Biden is continuing to press Republicans to allow Democrats to approve a debt-limit increase along party lines in the Senate. Barring that, Democrats in Congress will be forced to move the increase through the budget reconciliation process that bypasses a filibuster, or move to eliminate the filibuster for the vote.

The administration has ruled out unilateral efforts to bypass the limit, like minting a $1 trillion coin, saying such efforts would sow uncertainty that would damage the economy.

“That will really allow us to get that doubling effect in revenue,” Ms. Barra said.

G.M. expects to make more money from those efforts because software and services typically have higher profit margins than making and selling cars.

In a day-long presentation to investors and the media, G.M. also provided a glimpse at one of the electric vehicles it is working on — an electric version of its popular Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. G.M. said the truck will feature a glass roof and will be capable of steering with all four of its wheels, not just the front two. Executives would not say when it will go into production.

The electric Silverado will be built at the G.M.’s Hamtramck plant in Detroit, alongside a GMC Hummer electric sport-utility vehicle that the company plans to begin selling by the end of this year. G.M. also plans to add the Cadillac Lyriq, an electric S.U.V., next year.

G.M. hopes to offer a new version of its Super Cruise driver-assist system that will allow hands-free driving on local streets and roads. Called Ultra Cruise, the new version is supposed to be released in 2023 for use on two million miles of roads in the United States and Canada. Super Cruise currently only works on about 200,000 miles of major highways.

Magnolia has about 500 films in its library. The company, founded in 2001, is known for documentaries like “Blackfish,” “I Am Not Your Negro” and “Capturing the Friedmans.” It generated around $30 million in sales last year and expects to bring in about $40 million this year. Its streaming partners have included Amazon, Apple, HBO Max and Hulu.

It was once part of a bigger media play. 2929 Entertainment, the media company founded by Mr. Wagner and Mr. Cuban, wanted to bring big-media ideas of vertical integration to the art-house world when it acquired Magnolia and the indie cinema chain Landmark Theatres in 2003. But the group sold Landmark to the billionaire Charles Cohen’s real estate group in 2018, when Netflix was emerging as an art-film superpower.

In exploring a sale, Magnolia joins a number of smaller film companies that are seeking deals in hopes of tapping streamers’ appetite for content.

Blackstone’s yet-to-be-named media venture has acquired Reese Witherspoon’s Sunshine Productions for roughly $900 million, for example. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s media company, Westbrook, is also reportedly in talks with the outfit. SpringHill, an entertainment company controlled by LeBron James that helped produce the “Space Jam” reboot, has reportedly been in talks with RedBird Capital.

“Inflation angst is still playing out,” analysts at Dutch bank ING wrote in a note to clients.

Some tech stocks, which are particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, dropped, with Apple falling nearly a percent and Facebook ticking down 0.5 percent. Those losses were stemmed as yields pulled back — Amazon and Microsoft, which started the day in the red, made slight gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was about 0.5 percent lower.

Stocks in Europe were also lower, amid more evidence that supply chain disruptions were holding back the economic recovery. Data published on Wednesday showed that German factory orders dropped 7.7 percent in August and retail sales rose less than economists forecast. A survey of purchasing managers showed activity was contracting in the construction industry in September, though some constraints were easing.

“Supply bottlenecks, capacity constraints and rising costs all continued to take a toll on the German construction sector during September,” said Phil Smith at IHS Markit, which published the survey. “Firms reported disruption from material shortages as well as a negative impact on demand from having to raise prices in line with higher costs.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1 percent and the DAX in Germany fell 1.5 percent, but ended above their lowest levels of the day.

In Britain, gas prices jumped, raising concerns that a period of above-target inflation will continue, or will encourage the central bank to take action sooner than expected. The yield on 10-year bonds was also flat at 1.07 percent after earlier rising as much as seven basis points, following a seven basis-point increase on Tuesday.

Her statement added: “We remain committed to achieving a fair and competitive contract that recognizes the important work of our employees and helps ensure the long-term success of our plants and the company. We remain ready, willing and able to continue negotiations and hope we can reach an agreement soon.”

Mr. Shelton said in his statement that his union “stands in unwavering solidarity with our courageous brothers and sisters who are on strike.”

The same union recently ended a weekslong strike at Nabisco, after clashing with its owner, Mondelez International, over proposed changes to shift lengths and overtime rules. The strike, by roughly a thousand workers, affected three bakeries and three small sales distribution facilities, according to Mondelez, which is based in Chicago.

“The very definition of what development means in China is changing,” said Yuen Yuen Ang, a political science professor at the University of Michigan. “In the past decades, the model was straightforward: It was one that prioritized the speed of growth over all other matters.”

“It is clear by now that Mr. Xi wants to end the Gilded Age and move toward a Chinese version of the Progressive Era, with growth that is more equitable and less corrupt,” she added.

Economists warn that authoritarian governments have a shaky record with this type of transformation, though they acknowledge that few have brought such resources and planning to the effort. READ THE ARTICLE →