Intel Researching Anti-Cheating Technology

Intel Researching Anti-Cheating Technology

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - by Harry Lo
Aimbot, aimhack, cheats, or what have you is what we’re talking about today. We’ve probably all been victims of cheating at least once during the many hours we have spent playing games in front of the screen. And we all know that cheating usually spoils the fun for everyone. That might be why Intel has embarked on anti-cheat crusade, so to speak, with its research on a new anti-cheating system that would make cheating much more difficult for cheating cheaters. Known as the Fair Online Gaming System, it is unlike contemporary software-based anti-cheating technologies in that it would be built into a user’s computer and would combine software, hardware, and firmware.
“Anti-cheating software can only catch cheats once they become known: like antivirus software, it works by scanning for things that look like known cheats, and the list of cheats requires constant updating. "

“For example, the system would go after input-based cheats, in which a hacker feeds the game different information than he enters through the keyboard and mouse. A cheater playing a shooting game might use an input-based cheat known as an aimbot, for example, to point his guns automatically, leaving him free to fire rapidly, and with deadly accuracy… The Fair Online Gaming system's chip set would catch an aimbot by receiving and comparing data streams from the player's keyboard and mouse with data streams from what the game processes. The system would recognize that the information wasn't the same and alert administrators to the cheat. In tests… the system ran without slowing the play of a game.”
Researchers state that the Fair Online Gaming System would work without needing updates, since it monitors hardware activity. The system would also keep an eye on network-data cheats that harvest hidden info from a game’s network, such as an opponent’s location in strategy games. Moreover, the system is also said to target cheats that try to disable anti-cheating software.

Since it is incorporated into hardware, the new anti-cheating solution from Intel will make it more expensive for cheaters to go about their business (they will have to modify their hardware in some way rather than just writing software code). However, the system can be described as a double-edged sword, as some privacy activists have expressed concerns about the system sending information about the computer across the Internet. Fortunately, if you don't like the system you have the option of turning it off, but you won't be able to join servers that make it a requirement to have it on (works kind of like Punkbuster in a way).
Via: Technology Review | News Archive | Tags: Intel, ATI, Tech, Search, Research, Technology, searching
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Comments

By scribs on Jul 11, 2007

Maybe I misunderstood, but did the end of the article not say that if you didn't like the system you could just turn it off? Doesn't that mean that only the honest, non-cheating players will leave it on, while those that want to cheat will just disable it first?

I hope they mean you can turn off the feature which sends info over the internet, not the whole thing.

By Ramzie on Jul 11, 2007

Just because someone turns off this feature doesn't mean they are a cheater. If you can't turn off the data gathering part of the app, I could see many people disabling this feature to preserve their privacy. Nothing in this world is black and white especially not 'if you turn off a anti-cheat feature your a cheater and if you have it enabled your not.'

I hope one can turn off the data gathering parts of the solution while maintaining anti-cheat status, but I've gone my life without anti-cheating stuff and if it ain't broke, I am not exactly jumping to employ something to fix it.

By scribs on Jul 11, 2007

Sorry, perhaps the intent of my statement didn't come through. Im not saying that everybody who turns it off is a cheater, but what Im saying is that any cheater will turn it off. An anti-cheat feature that can be turned off wont stop anyone.

Im also not particularly sure why your own computer monitoring keystrokes/mouse to compare to what the game sees requires sending anything over the internet, but I do still understand why it would make people nervous.

By HouseofLo on Jul 11, 2007

I made a correction in italics. When you turn off the anti-cheat system, you can't join regulated/dedicated servers that run the system. In that way, it is kind of like Punkbuster.

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