Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
1–10 of 68 posts
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#2The problem with anti cheat is that is doesn't even work. Play any game with anti cheat and you will still be flooded by hackers.
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#3Vanguard runs on Ring 0. -> Ring 3 software can also read your hdd so is not a problem.
Why load on boot? -> Because we need to, don't worry.
Why is scanning my serial port -> Is a bug, don't worry is not a problem.
What if Riot is hacked? -> If Microsoft gets hacked is even worse, so is not a problem.
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#4The problem with anti cheat is that is doesn't even work. Play any game with anti cheat and you will still be flooded by hackers.
It does stop some classes of hacks, ups the effort considerably as you hack needs to be in kernel or with hardware. But its pretty much impossible to stop on x86/windows PCs.
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#5Vanguard runs on Ring 0. -> Ring 3 software can also read your hdd so is not a problem. Why load on boot? -> Because we need to, don't worry. Why is scanning my serial port -> Is a bug, don't worry is not a problem. What if Riot is hacked? -> If Microsoft gets hacked is even worse, so is not a problem.
>Vanguard runs on Ring 0. -> Ring 3 software can also read your hdd so is not a problem.
Can also read process memory of the same user.
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#6The problem with anti cheat is that is doesn't even work. Play any game with anti cheat and you will still be flooded by hackers.
It does stop some classes of hacks, ups the effort considerably as you hack needs to be in kernel or with hardware. But its pretty much impossible to stop on x86/windows PCs.
If the hack has to be in kernel, it will be in kernel, so what's the point anyway.
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#7The problem with anti cheat is that is doesn't even work. Play any game with anti cheat and you will still be flooded by hackers.
Counterpoint, play any game without anticheat and realize just how much worse it can be. (and before someone says it, custom servers with dedicated admins doesn't scale and tends to cause lots of petty drama)
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#8The problem with anti cheat is that is doesn't even work. Play any game with anti cheat and you will still be flooded by hackers.
It does stop some classes of hacks, ups the effort considerably as you hack needs to be in kernel or with hardware. But its pretty much impossible to stop on x86/windows PCs.
People pay for cheats. Companies are built arround cheat making. That now you need hardware to cheat is a bussines oportunity for some.
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#9I think this post is addressing some of the weaker security arguments against putting anti-cheat software in the kernel. The issue isn't that such software provides no value (obviously it does if developers continue writing anti-cheat kernel drivers despite the backlash). The issue is that software running in the kernel can unintentionally enable vulnerabilities that would be impossible if the software was running in usermode. It doesn't require compromising any supply chains.
Re: Why anti-cheat software utilizes kernel drivers (2020)
#10> Why does this pose an issue in game-hacking? Well.. As we all know, game-hackers go to extreme lengths to achieve their common goal: winning. This is the sad reality of the cat-and-mouse game of game-hacking, as cheaters will not abide by any rules or morals.
I feel like this is a flawed basis of assumption and also just a mis-framed situation as a whole. Cheat developers and the people that use them en-masse aren't really the same people. By trying to suspend their narrative on player greed being the enemy, they undermine a point that otherwise has some very practical responses if you don't resort to relative extremism.
For one, if exploiting software to win was the ultimate degenerative goal of every video game, I don't think people would want to pay for online experiences. People still buy and play games because they like the intended experience, and while cheating exists it's a one-sided aberration that isn't an obvious by-product of an endless greed for winning. I don't like cheaters, but any businessman will tell you that one person's abuse of a service is no excuse to degrade another customer's experience.
For two, this isn't casus-belli on privacy even if it was true. All software can be exploited, but that doesn't justify creating infinitely hostile conditions for a user to run your program. This same line of reasoning, blaming the cheaters and never yourself, could be used to justify any number of nonsense mitigations like forcing players to record themselves with a webcam or plug in proprietary anticheat USB hardware. This is all a very flowery way for a developer to absolve themselves of responsibility for an extreme reaction to a minor issue.
For three - it's deflecting the issue onto a conflated group of people that doesn't really exist. The people designing exploits are motivated to do so because they like writing exploits, not because they enjoy cheating. They might sell their software or distribute it to people that do play to cheat, but the cheat designers are rarely motivated by a desire to be at the top of a leaderboard that will boot them off for obvious manipulation. So the entire concept of blaming the players for wanting to win so bad is really just an emotional "we're the poor developers" deflection. They can try to hold the moral high ground all they want, but it ends up feeling like an incensed defense of something that clearly isn't working.