Riot Games' Vanguard: A Deep Dive into Anti-Cheat
Cheating in video games has evolved from a hobbyist pursuit to a lucrative industry. With the rise of professional gaming, developers like Riot Games are stepping up their anti-cheat efforts. Riot's kernel-level anti-cheat system, Vanguard, is at the forefront of this battle.
How Vanguard Works
Vanguard utilizes Windows security features like Trusted Platform Module and Secure Boot to ensure system integrity. It verifies hardware drivers and prevents cheats from loading in kernel memory. This aggressive approach forces cheats to become visible, making detection easier.
Riot Games boasts impressive results. Less than 1% of Valorant ranked matches globally contain cheaters, according to the company. Phillip Koskinas, Riot's anti-cheat lead, shared insights into their multi-faceted strategy.
Beyond Technology: Understanding Cheaters
Riot's anti-cheat team employs a "reconnaissance arm" that infiltrates cheat communities. This involves creating undercover identities, acquiring cheats, and even sharing anti-cheat information to gain credibility. This allows Riot to identify cheat developers, understand their tactics, and ultimately ban their users.
Publicly discrediting cheat developers is another key tactic. By banning players and leaking information about cheat communities, Riot aims to damage the reputation of these developers.
The Psychology of Anti-Cheat
Riot also uses psychological strategies. They intentionally slow down ban waves to avoid pushing cheaters towards more sophisticated cheats. This "keep cheating dumb" approach allows Riot to stay ahead of the curve.
Hardware fingerprinting helps prevent repeat offenders by uniquely identifying their devices. Publicly shaming cheaters is another tactic employed by the team.
The Cheater's Toolbox and the Future of Cheating
Most cheaters fall into two categories: those using easily detectable "download-a-ban" cheats, and those using more sophisticated, expensive "external" cheats. External cheats often involve specialized hardware like high-speed PCI Express cards and DMA attacks to gain an unfair advantage.
More advanced cheats utilize HDMI fusers and screen readers combined with Arduino mini-computers to create aimbots and wallhacks. While these are harder to detect, Riot is constantly iterating its defenses.
The future of cheating may involve AI-powered screen classification. Koskinas acknowledges this emerging threat and its potential to mimic human inputs.
Transparency and the Future of Vanguard
Despite privacy concerns surrounding kernel-level access, Riot remains committed to Vanguard. The company emphasizes transparency by publishing blog posts and engaging with the media to explain its anti-cheat efforts.
While the details of Vanguard's inner workings remain confidential, Riot's commitment to transparency and its multi-pronged approach to combating cheating demonstrate a dedication to fair play in its games.
