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Entire rewrite and editing of paper.
Cheating in video games is extremely prevalent in many genres, from low levels of play all the way to professional leagues. Each video game has their own way of combating this problem, some of which are admittedly better than others. FPS games, in particular, have been plagued by this phenomenon due to their relatively simplistic coding, allowing a plethora of ways to get past cheat detection software. Valorant, an FPS game made by Riot Games and owned by a Chinese company Tencent, is one of the most popular games on the market today. Tencent introduced a new anti-cheat software “Vanguard” with this game, and it has changed the market forever.
Vanguard works entirely differently than previous methods. Most anti-cheat programs run when you start the game and continue until it is closed. Vanguard, however, operates by running from the moment you start your computer until you shut it off. This is necessary because it requires “kernel-level access” to your computer, which allows the program to have full control over all the processes and data your computer handles. Amazingly, it has had a high degree of success. Whereas other FPS games are perpetually plagued by cheaters, anyone who wishes to jeopardize either the competitive or casual scene in Valorant are caught nearly immediately. There have been many instances in which a player decides to start cheating in a match and is caught and permanently banned by the end of the game.
Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CSGO) is its leading competitor in the market, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Valorant’s anti-cheat system. Coming across a hacker in CSGO is just expected at this point, but in Valorant it’s such a rare occurrence that you could easily play a hundred matches without encountering a single one. CSGO’s anti-cheat works differently by relying on players to watch recordings of matches and personally determining if the player is a cheater or not. Taking all of this into consideration, it’s clear that the Vanguard system has its upsides, but it has some very glaring drawbacks as well. To achieve such high levels of success, it also requires an unprecedented amount of access to your computer. This frightens many computer science experts who are aware of how this can be manipulated. This is made all the more scary when looking at Tencent’s history with data collection in their other apps: they were ordered by the Chinese government on Nov 3 2021 to "rectify what it called the excessive collection of personal information" (Horwitz, 1). This is not an isolated incident as they have had similar infractions in the information collection field since then. An investigation by a research company showed that they survey foreign users on their messaging app WeChat, which has over 1 billion users globally (Kharpal, 2). The investigation found that content that was deemed politically sensitive was sent between non-Chinese accounts and Chinese registered accounts was repeatedly censored (Kharpal, 11). Seeing what kind of actions they take in their other programs, it's not hard to imagine what they might be doing with unprecedented access to 22.5 million active monthly players. With the access they’re allowed they could monitor everywhere you visit online, any password you type in, online purchases you make, even what other games you’re playing. Anything you can do with a computer, they can monitor.
Nevertheless, Vanguard is not alone in its level of access and power. There are many other anti-cheat programs that operate in much the same way but have some key differences. nProtect is one such application and is probably the most similar to Vanguard, yet it somehow manages to operate in an even worse manner. nProtect also runs from the moment your computer starts until it shuts down, but, unlike Vanguard, nProtect has no easy way to uninstall. It requires many unintuitive steps that are difficult to do without a decent degree of computer knowledge. This practice preys upon people who aren’t technologically inclined and are completely unaware that they’re being taken advantage of. Even if you are savvy enough to realize what’s happening, they have made it as troublesome and downright frustrating as possible to remove it. Vanguard, on the other hand, at least offers an easy and quick one click uninstallation. Predatory practices that these anti-cheat software developers employ should be much more closely monitored as there is no recourse for their actions. This is especially apparent when you compare them to other anti-cheats that are arguably better. For instance, another similar anti-cheat is called EAC, or Easy Anti-Cheat, which has the same level of access as Vanguard, but it only runs once the game has actually started, meaning that it has much less capability of being used maliciously. The one significant downside to this is that many hacks or cheats used in games are loaded when the computer is booted, meaning that an anti-cheat of EAC would not be able to detect cheats like this as easily as Vanguard would be able.
Valorant's anti-cheat is undoubtedly an effective solution to limiting unfair advantage. Many people like myself view the usage of it as worth whatever negatives may be attached. Having played competitive games for most of my life, I can say with confidence that the experience is significantly more painless without the worry of hackers and cheaters plaguing the ecosystem. That being said, it is important for users to be aware of the hidden dangers that come with such an alluring environment as many people aren't even aware of the possible effects of having it installed in the first place. If a hacker was able to get access to Vanguard and gain control over it they could do any number of disastrous things to your computer and your life. Any and all passwords you enter, any documents you have saved, your bank account information, all would be open for a hacker with such control to see. The computer it's running on could even be manipulated physically by the hacker. Your CPU or Graphics Card could be overclocked to 150% with fans turned off, quickly blowing up your hardware, even possibly starting a fire. This is all possible due to the high level of access Vanguard has to your computer. However, only the individual can weigh whether or not the risks are worth the reward.
Cheating in video games is extremely prevalent in many genres, from low levels of play all the way to professional leagues. Each video game has their own way of combating this problem, some of which are admittedly better than others. FPS games, in particular, have been plagued by this phenomenon due to their relatively simplistic coding, allowing a plethora of ways to get past cheat detection software. Valorant, an FPS game made by Riot Games and owned by a Chinese company Tencent, is one of the most popular games on the market today. Tencent introduced a new anti-cheat software “Vanguard” with this game, and it has changed the market forever.
Vanguard works entirely differently than previous methods. Most anti-cheat programs run when you start the game and continue until it is closed. Vanguard, however, operates by running from the moment you start your computer until you shut it off. This is necessary because it requires “kernel-level access” to your computer, which allows the program to have full control over all the processes and data your computer handles. Amazingly, it has had a high degree of success. Whereas other FPS games are perpetually plagued by cheaters, anyone who wishes to jeopardize either the competitive or casual scene in Valorant are caught nearly immediately. There have been many instances in which a player decides to start cheating in a match and is caught and permanently banned by the end of the game.
Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CSGO) is its leading competitor in the market, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Valorant’s anti-cheat system. Coming across a hacker in CSGO is just expected at this point, but in Valorant it’s such a rare occurrence that you could easily play a hundred matches without encountering a single one. CSGO’s anti-cheat works differently by relying on players to watch recordings of matches and personally determining if the player is a cheater or not. Taking all of this into consideration, it’s clear that the Vanguard system has its upsides, but it has some very glaring drawbacks as well. To achieve such high levels of success, it also requires an unprecedented amount of access to your computer. This frightens many computer science experts who are aware of how this can be manipulated. This is made all the more scary when looking at Tencent’s history with data collection in their other apps: they were ordered by the Chinese government on Nov 3 2021 to "rectify what it called the excessive collection of personal information" (Horwitz, 1). This is not an isolated incident as they have had similar infractions in the information collection field since then. An investigation by a research company showed that they survey foreign users on their messaging app WeChat, which has over 1 billion users globally (Kharpal, 2). The investigation found that content that was deemed politically sensitive was sent between non-Chinese accounts and Chinese registered accounts was repeatedly censored (Kharpal, 11). Seeing what kind of actions they take in their other programs, it's not hard to imagine what they might be doing with unprecedented access to 22.5 million active monthly players. With the access they’re allowed they could monitor everywhere you visit online, any password you type in, online purchases you make, even what other games you’re playing. Anything you can do with a computer, they can monitor.
Nevertheless, Vanguard is not alone in its level of access and power. There are many other anti-cheat programs that operate in much the same way but have some key differences. nProtect is one such application and is probably the most similar to Vanguard, yet it somehow manages to operate in an even worse manner. nProtect also runs from the moment your computer starts until it shuts down, but, unlike Vanguard, nProtect has no easy way to uninstall. It requires many unintuitive steps that are difficult to do without a decent degree of computer knowledge. This practice preys upon people who aren’t technologically inclined and are completely unaware that they’re being taken advantage of. Even if you are savvy enough to realize what’s happening, they have made it as troublesome and downright frustrating as possible to remove it. Vanguard, on the other hand, at least offers an easy and quick one click uninstallation. Predatory practices that these anti-cheat software developers employ should be much more closely monitored as there is no recourse for their actions. This is especially apparent when you compare them to other anti-cheats that are arguably better. For instance, another similar anti-cheat is called EAC, or Easy Anti-Cheat, which has the same level of access as Vanguard, but it only runs once the game has actually started, meaning that it has much less capability of being used maliciously. The one significant downside to this is that many hacks or cheats used in games are loaded when the computer is booted, meaning that an anti-cheat of EAC would not be able to detect cheats like this as easily as Vanguard would be able.
Valorant's anti-cheat is undoubtedly an effective solution to limiting unfair advantage. Many people like myself view the usage of it as worth whatever negatives may be attached. Having played competitive games for most of my life, I can say with confidence that the experience is significantly more painless without the worry of hackers and cheaters plaguing the ecosystem. That being said, it is important for users to be aware of the hidden dangers that come with such an alluring environment as many people aren't even aware of the possible effects of having it installed in the first place. If a hacker was able to get access to Vanguard and gain control over it they could do any number of disastrous things to your computer and your life. Any and all passwords you enter, any documents you have saved, your bank account information, all would be open for a hacker with such control to see. The computer it's running on could even be manipulated physically by the hacker. Your CPU or Graphics Card could be overclocked to 150% with fans turned off, quickly blowing up your hardware, even possibly starting a fire. This is all possible due to the high level of access Vanguard has to your computer. However, only the individual can weigh whether or not the risks are worth the reward.
