Please do read through this blog entry. This is very important! It not only about game hacking, it is also about the freedom to use your computer!
Current situation
If the Terms of Service is not in place, it is actually fully legal for anyone to modify the memory of any online game to achieve the so-called effect as hacking.
Also, as nProtect GameGuard doesn’t come with an End-User License Agreement, we are free to do anything to it. It is perfectly legal.
Also, our playing field with the anti-hacking software is almost leveled. In the ring0, in ring 3, all they have got is 1 extra undocumented API, which doesn’t really affect alot.
Furthermore, we are able to cheat in game, because they are putting data that aren’t supposed to be in our computer, into our computer. Just to save the computational resource on their side.
All because it is on our computer, and we own our computer.
What happens after Windows Vista is introduced
Perspective from a game cheater ( or hacker ):
There are various new technology introduced, that may be disadvantageous to us.
- PatchGuard
All our kernel hooking technic is now impossible, as it will immediately trigger a Bug Check, or in slang, we call it Blue Screen of Death.
Even MzBot will cease to work, since it alters kernel structures, which is checked by PatchGuard, and will be offer a reboot immediately if it is found altered.
Dual’s SaruenGang, which make use of a clever MSR hook, will cease to work also, since PatchGuard will check almost all CPU registers and structures, including LDT, GDT ( Now you cannot make 0×00400000 a ring0 segment. ), CRx ( All control registers ) and IDT ( Interrupt Descriptor Table ).
Please do take note that it is not the programme that is blocked.
It is the method that is blocked.
You may think that you can bypass PatchGuard, but all public methods are patched almost immediately.
Finding your own method is very hard, and is probably beyond almost all of us noobs.
Leeching a method is probably also very difficult.
Also to note, in the Windows Vista End User License Agreement, it state that you are not supposed to work around any technical restriction. That means you are not supposed to bypass PatchGuard. By bypassing PatchGuard, you invalidate your Windows Vista license, and you may be charged and thrown in jail for unauthorized use of software. ( Unlike cheating in online game, you only get banned. )
- Address Space Layout Randomization
This may change the address of every hack every reboot, meaning each time you restart your computer, address of “hacks” like godmode and vacs will change.
- What’s gonna come in Vista Service Pack 1
There’s some APIs that are designed for Anti-Virus company in Vista Service Pack 1. Some APIs are to set application “invulnerable” to memory editing, meaning that the operating system ( Windows Vista ) will disallow any program to edit MapleStory’s memory.
Details about this API is still unclear, maybe they will disable all DLL injection to that process or just add another internal kernel structure that NtProtectVirtualMemory will check to prevent other processes from setting that process’ page to writable… etc… There are too many possibility. However, most probably it will be very very hard to bypass, and probably will involved PatchGuard in the process too.
- TC ( Trusted Computing )
This is the most lethal and fatal to all game cheaters. However, this won’t get implemented so soon. And yes, this is the technology (Palladium) that Microsoft claimed that will stop all virus, malware and spyware… ( But the fact is: It doesn’t stop any virus/malware/spyware… )
You can read more about TC here ( I recommend you to read it all, although it is quite long, but you can do it later, some people just aren’t patient on important stuff… ):
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
Also to note, the above is written by a Professor of Security Engineering at the Computer Laboratory in University of Cambridge.
Maybe you will wonder, so what if TC allows music publisher to delete pirated MP3s on my computer without my consent, or what if Trusted Computing allows Microsoft to format my computer if they think my Windows is pirated ( Very oftenly, Microsoft mistaken a fully licensed Windows for a pirated one. )
We should pay attention to a technology in TC, that is memory curtaining. That is, the CPU will disallow anyone from reading a piece of memory, not to mention writing to it. This is implemented from hardware level, and is very easy to bypass: ( Try it at your own risk. )
- Shutdown your computer
- Yank the CPU off the main board, get a hammer and smash it to pieces.
- Yank the TPM ( Trusted Platform Module ) off the main board.
And you are done, but your computer won’t start anyway…
The memory curtain feature is impossible to bypass, unless you follow the steps above ( destroy the hardware ), or miracles happened.
You might think: Ha! Luckily, they haven’t implement it in the hardware yet. When they start selling hardwares with these terrible features, I can just refuse to buy them!
Then too bad, you are wrong. All PCs sold in 2006 comes with the TC, some in 2005 comes with the TC. Just that the software ( Windows ) didn’t activate/use it, so you can still do all the vac and godmode in game.
- Regarding Cheat Engine for Windows Vista
Many just think that we should just wait for Cheat Engine for Windows Vista to come out. However, this thought is too naive.
However, yes, the Cheat Engine for 64-bit Windows Vista will come. Cheat Engine itself does a lot of Direct Kernel Object Manipulation and modifying CPU registers. However, this is not possible on Windows Vista, so it would take a lot of time to make CE run on Windows Vista. Or perhaps Dark Byte just doesn’t want to port Cheat Engine to such a limited platform.
Various efforts by ordinary users in Cheat Engine Forum or other forums to create an Undetected Cheat Engine would probably lead to nothing in the end. Since there’s too many to be done, and very possibly beyond them. ( Making CE run on Vista is not simple find and replace… )
Even if such a Cheat Engine is made, it probably will be very limited, and easily defeated by nProtect GameGuard, as iNCA can afford to pay Microsoft. And this time, we cannot bypass by replacing “detected strings”.
Further adding onto this, the future Cheat Engine that run on Windows Vista won’t be able to help you get ride of various Windows Vista “technical restrictions”.
Therefore, we can conclude Windows Vista is a very hostile environment for Cheat Engine.
From a normal user’s view:
- TC
As we mentioned earlier, TC will stop you from piracy, and even stop legitimate users from using their computers.
- Forced to upgrade to Windows Vista by incompatibility
When a user starts to use Windows Vista, it will force all users around him/her to upgrade to Vista, which cost alot.
Microsoft will also stop support for Windows XP, and stop providing updates, so people are forced to upgrade to Vista.
By hook or crook, they will make you upgrade to Vista.
- Forced to upgrade your hardware.
Vista have a very high requirement for hardware, and with the “XP” hardware, Windows Vista would lag, and therefore encourage you to buy new hardware.
Many are upgrading their hardware just because of Windows Vista.
( For Singaporean: An example would be the IT Show from 8th March – 11th March 2007 )
All in all
With the introduction of these new technology(s) like Windows Vista and TC, our computer is no longer ours. Cheating in online game due to game author abusing our CPU ( those data should be processed in their computer, the server. ) will be the history. They will be free to abuse our CPU anyway they like.
What can we do?
We can do nothing, Microsoft and other company’s just rich, they have got their market monopoly, we can do nothing but let them control our computer, and let them control how we use the computer as well…
Or maybe not, we can voice our opinion to the company(s), we have to show them: We want our freedom back! We want our computer to obey us, not them!
But how?
- We can refuse to downgrade to Windows Vista, so the game company will not drop the support for Windows XP. ( On Windows XP, we have partial control on our computer, that’s why nProtect GameGuard can still stand. On an Operating System that we truly have control on, nProtect would be dead… )
- Throw Microsoft complaint letters on PatchGuard, TC, and various technology that take away our freedom. ( Erm… don’t get emotional and use vulgar? )
- Reject any service that use TC, so TC will not be wide spread. ( We cannot reject computer that support TC, since they quietly put it in our computers… The chance’s over. )
- Inform others about the danger of Windows Vista. ( Recommended for everyone. )
- Use free Operating Systems, for those who are courageous to do it. But mind you, you might not like it, since most games only run on Windows. You know it is hard to break out of software monopoly.
- Join free software development. ( For the leets only. ) Just for your information, Cheat Engine is a piece of Free Software, it is released under APL, which is considered an open-source license.
Helping open source software development is good learning opportunity for those who really want to learn computing/computer science.
There are many other open source projects other than Cheat Engine, go look around and see which you can join. Eg:
- The K Desktop Environment project.
- The ReactOS project. ( This is a clone of Windows, for those who want more knowledge on rootkitting and Windows Internal, go for this one. )
- The Linux Kernel. ( Probably for anyone at Dark Byte’s level. )
and there are more, just google around.
( Note to those who are attracted to Windows Vista’s theme: Go for a Mac instead, Vista’s theme’s just a rip off of Mac OS X. )
Posted by john0312 
Posted by john0312 
Posted by john0312 