For the past few years, the floodgates have opened on Steam and we have seen all types of games rolling into the platform. I have talked about shovelware and asset flips but have not had to go into malware for the simple fact that you weren't really seeing it on Steam. Unfortunately, this record, or at least the perception of the record, did not last past last week as a game was found to have tried and installed bitcoin mining software on to user's computers. (eurogamer.ne)
Granted Valve reacted semi-quickly by taking the game off the market as well as banning the developer. I still think this was only a matter of time. The open door policy they have created this year is great for the hopeful who are pouring their soul into their independent titles but, unpoliced, could be a hindrance because people are afraid to buy crap games. What's even more dangerous now is people might need to fear the possibility of malware being installed on their computers. Not through porn...but Steam.
I do want to give Valve the benefit of the doubt in the respect that this crap happens so little it makes news when it does. Then again they were also very lucky that this company was just going after Bitcoin. While 'cryptojacking' can hurt the performance of a computer, personal information was not necessarily being stolen. I am hoping that Valve takes this seriously as eyebrows have been raised by those who have less than noble goals and now have the possibility to use one of the most popular platforms to be assholes.
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