Source URL: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/05/06/0031241/how-riot-games-is-fighting-the-war-against-video-game-hackers?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Source: Slashdot
Title: How Riot Games is Fighting the War Against Video Game Hackers
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AI Summary and Description: Yes
Summary: Riot Games has successfully reduced cheating in Valorant to under 1% of ranked games by employing an advanced kernel-level anti-cheat system called Vanguard. The system leverages various security features and methods, including undercover operatives infiltrating cheat development communities, to combat increasingly sophisticated cheating threats.
Detailed Description: The strategy employed by Riot Games to mitigate cheating in their game Valorant involves a combination of technical measures and social tactics, which may have implications for various domains within security and compliance.
– **Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat System**: Vanguard operates at the kernel level in the operating system, which gives it a deep level of access to enforce robust security measures.
– **Windows Security Features**: It utilizes features like Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and Secure Boot to enhance system integrity and prevent unauthorized code execution.
– **Infiltration Tactics**: Riot Games employs undercover operatives to gather intelligence on cheat development communities.
– This approach helps the company understand and combat new cheating methods in real-time.
– The operatives provide anti-cheat information to build credibility within the community.
– **Advanced Threats**: Riot faces complex cheating methods, including:
– **Direct Memory Access Attacks**: Using PCI Express hardware to bypass typical security mechanisms.
– **Screen Reader Cheats**: Employing separate machines to control player actions and analyze gameplay.
– **Hardware Fingerprinting**: To combat repeat offenders, Vanguard fingerprints the hardware of known cheaters, making it easier to prevent them from returning with new accounts.
– **Psychological Warfare**: The company employs strategies aimed at undermining the credibility of cheat developers and known cheaters.
– This includes public discrediting and trolling within communities.
– **Controlled Enforcement**: Koskinas notes a deliberate policy of “slowing enforcement” to keep cheating tactics simplified which suggests an ongoing evaluation of strategies in terms of effectiveness and adaptiveness.
This comprehensive approach not only highlights the challenges of maintaining integrity in competitive gaming but also emphasizes the importance of innovative strategies in cybersecurity and anti-cheat measures. Security professionals can learn from Riot’s blend of technical and psychological tactics to devise their own methods for safeguarding systems against sophisticated threats.