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Riot Games Now Requires Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat Software for League of Legends, Following Valorant's Implementation (tuta.com)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Vanguard, the controversial anti-cheat software initially attached to Valorant, is now also coming to League of Legends.

Summary:

The article discusses Riot Games' requirement for players to install their Vanguard anti-cheat software, which runs at the kernel level, in order to play their games such as League of Legends and Valorant. The software aims to combat cheating by scanning for known vulnerabilities and blocking them, as well as monitoring for suspicious activity while the game is being played. However, the use of kernel-level software raises concerns about privacy and security, as it grants the company complete access to users' devices.

The article highlights that Riot Games is owned by Tencent, a Chinese tech giant that has been involved in censorship and surveillance activities in China. This raises concerns that Vanguard could potentially be used for similar purposes, such as monitoring players' activity and restricting free speech in-game.

Ultimately, the decision to install Vanguard rests with players, but the article urges caution and encourages players to consider the potential risks and implications before doing so.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Cheat software developers are already releasing cheats that operate at this level. If Riot wants to combat them, it has to do so at the kernel level.

and what is their endgame? "Developers are releasing cheats that emualate a mouse. Therefore Riot needs to use a camera to record your hand"?

Lots of other companies are already using similar software to prevent cheating.

If everybody is jumping off a roof, so should Riot?

“This isn’t giving us any surveillance capability we didn’t already have.” Claiming that if they wanted to steal data, their example being a secret recipe, then they could already do so in user mode.

Isn't the whole point of anti-cheat to survey the computer? If you aren't getting anything new, then why even use a kernel-level anticheat?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Isn't the whole point of anti-cheat to survey the computer? If you aren't getting anything new, then why even use a kernel-level anticheat?

Because the one thing they want to find, cheat software, can hide if it's running in kernel mode and the anti cheat isn't.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You could also run software in the kernel that hides vety sensitove data

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Don't put games on a classified system.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Dont make games a risk to whatever data I personally treat as equivalently classified. I cant own multiple computers to keep my private info on one and game on the other, unless youre offering to buy me some new tech

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

They already are a risk. You think Minecraft is incapable of uploading your My Documents directory? I can write that code in less than 20 lines and add it to any existing, working game.

Lethal Company is more of a risk than Riot and Vanguard, at least for now. If Riot LA does lose control of the source code, I expect US authorities will be notified.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

I cant own multiple computers to keep my private info on one and game on the other

If you wanna be truly safe in Windows, this is what you have to do. In Linux, it's almost possible (but difficult) to manage all your permissions well enough, but if state actors are finding four zero-days at a time in iOS and Android I don't doubt that they can get into your Linux system if you're running untrusted executables.

It's an interesting thought because everyone's concerns here are valid, but they didn't start with Vanguard or Riot. They started well before. If you have League of Legends or any Steam game installed, you're already compromised, and Vanguard doesn't really move the needle there.

People here are raising alarms about a bald tire while they're already driving on 3 other bald tires. The problem isn't at all solved if you "fix" the one.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

and what is their endgame? “Developers are releasing cheats that emualate a mouse. Therefore Riot needs to use a camera to record your hand”?

You mean a device that physically operates the mouse? I don't know, I don't work for riot, but this is done in online chess - to participate in some tournaments with money prizes you need 2 webcams.

If everybody is jumping off a roof, so should Riot?

No, the question is if this discussion also cover all other anticheats that use kernel mode, or is here anything that is League-specific?

Isn’t the whole point of anti-cheat to survey the computer? If you aren’t getting anything new, then why even use a kernel-level anticheat?

This is just splitting hairs on semantics, isn't it? From the moment the app is running in user space, it could collect a huge amount of user info, but it can't look for kernel-level cheat software.

Note that I don't play league, I could care less about the game or the developer, I'm just interested in the privacy vs cheating aspect of the conversation.