Steam Launches Limited User Accounts From Abuse

The popular game distribution platform Steam has announced a new measure against abuse such as phishing and spam attacks on users, namely the obligation for Limited User Accounts to spend at least $ 5 before they can use certain features. These include the posting, use the chat function and participation in the Steam Fair.

According to Valve, developer of Steam, the measure must protect users from spam and phishing. Steam has 125 million users worldwide. Through the platform, users can buy all sorts of games and digital objects. Some research argue that sold 75% of all PC games through Steam. Steam Accounts with many games or digital goods are also a favorite target of cyber criminals, who often approach users through chat or other parts of the platform.

"Malicious users often use accounts that have spent no money, which reduces the risk of the actions they perform," said Valve. Viewing the purchase history would be one of the main ways to distinguish normal users of malicious users. Malicious users would in fact do not care about the life of their account.

That's why we decided to introduce the limit of $ 5 before accounts can use all the features. Steam Users are happy that something against the scams on the platform is being done, but there are also critical voices of people who only buy physical ex. PC games and spend nothing on Steam, as evidenced by the lively discussion on Reddit .

Steam Will Combat Malware With Captcha

The popular online game distribution platform Steam, with more than 100 million active users, has taken measures against malware that attempts to steal virtual goods. Steam users are regularly targeted by phishing attacks and malware. The Dutch researcher Yonathan Klijnsma He recently made ​​a comprehensive analysis of Steam malware. The malware attempts virtual goods that allow users to move their account to other accounts, where they are eventually sold at physical money.

To thwart this type of malware must now enter a captcha in the trading of virtual goods. "We know this is annoying, and we want to make it act not difficult for our users, but we expect that will help users who are tempted to install malware and so lose their stuff," says John Cook from Valve, the company that Steam developed. Cook asked users what they think of the captcha, which now yielded 700 responses, many of which are negative.