For one MMORPG I would not mention by name it took me 15 minutes after I have downloaded it to fabricate a self-made program to automatically kill monsters for 30 minutes, sit to heal, and finally start the cycle all over again. Why did I do it? Well I was bored to death with the game, and whenever I hear "Auto-Target" I hear: "Make a script and go eat dinner".

I have played games that have anti-hacking protection integrated in them, and it is just a delay, but never a definite end to hackers. GameGuard is one programs that some MMORPGs have to prevent hacking, yet whenever I'm playing Gunz, there is a speed hacker or a HP hacker in the room I go in. And if that wasn't enough, whenever I try to change the server I am in I get a:

" A Hacking attempt was detected, the program will now close"

What?! I was just changing servers!!

What is a Hacker

Contrary to popular consensus according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a hacker is:

3 : an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer

4 : a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system

For me a hacker is a person that wants to know more about a system, including its flaws. Kids that use programs to exploit the flaws in MMORPGs are not hackers, there is another name for them, we call them Script Kiddies. Sadly the ones players call hackers are mostly script kiddies that got their hacking tool from someone else. They have no idea what or how the program they are breaching works.

MMO Security Software

One of the dilemmas of programming is:

"Do we think about security while we are building the program? or Do we add security after the product is finished?"

There is no true answer to this question, and from the developer point of view it is really hard to build a hacker-proof security system. Because with so many Engineers playing, don’t you think someone is going to try to hack it?

This is how your games look from the inside out:

0003f940:66 0a 04 00 56 0a 04 00 42 0a 04 00 36 0a 04 00 f...V...B...6...

0003f950:2a 0a 04 00 08 0a 04 00 f6 09 04 00 e6 09 04 00 *.......ö...æ...

0003f960:d6 09 04 00 c6 09 04 00 b6 09 04 00 a4 09 04 00 Ö...Æ...¶...¤...

0003f970:82 09 04 00 72 09 04 00 62 09 04 00 58 09 04 00 ‚...r...b...X...

0003f980:4a 09 04 00 3e 09 04 00 2e 09 04 00 1c 09 04 00 J...>...........

0003f990:12 09 04 00 fe 08 04 00 26 0c 04 00 e0 08 04 00 ....þ...&...à...

0003f9a0:c8 08 04 00 b6 08 04 00 a6 08 04 00 98 08 04 00 È...¶...¦...˜...

0003f9b0:86 08 04 00 74 08 04 00 60 08 04 00 4e 08 04 00 †...t...`...N...

0003f9c0:3e 08 04 00 32 08 04 00 1c 08 04 00 10 08 04 00 >...2...........

0003f9d0:fe 07 04 00 f0 07 04 00 82 13 04 00 76 13 04 00 þ...ð...‚...v...

0003f9e0:6a 13 04 00 56 13 04 00 46 13 04 00 38 13 04 00 j...V...F...8...

0003f9f0:26 13 04 00 de 07 04 00 ce 07 04 00 b8 07 04 00 &...Þ...Î...¸...

0003fa00:ac 07 04 00 9a 07 04 00 8a 07 04 00 70 07 04 00 ¬...š...Š...p...

0003fa10:62 07 04 00 52 07 04 00 3a 07 04 00 24 07 04 00 b...R...:...$...

0003fa20:18 07 04 00 0a 07 04 00 fc 06 04 00 ea 06 04 00 ........ü...ê...

0003fa30:d8 06 04 00 48 0c 04 00 14 0a 04 00 34 0c 04 00 Ø...H.......4…

After every feature the developers add to the game they have to ask themselves "How are players going to try to hack it?" sound a little but paranoid doesn’t it? but it is what happens inside the development rooms.

With all this security and computer check-ups that this software is doing before letting you login, it is a added delay to your gaming experience. Additional frustration can be added because of other programs that are "Suspected Hacking Tools" which in the worst case could be Microsoft Paint.

Hacking tools are no secret in MMO's all you do is use any search engine and a dozen of them will pop out, for big games like WoW they even sell hacking software with all the warranties in the world. If I worked in a security software I would enter games and befriend hackers, tell me to share some of their stuff, and then patch those vulnerabilities. Security engineers nowadays are downright lazy, they don’t even need to leave their desk to find the ongoing vulnerabilities.

Don't believe me? there are even video tutorials on YouTube on how to hack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7OHmxANkfA

Employee Retaliation

This is the information era, and publishing information to the world has never been easier. I have seen former employees from MMOs publish game hacks and other vulnerabilities and openly accusing the company of mistreating them. This is really bad, because they are publishing vulnerabilities they know are not noticeable by the Game Masters or the security software.

Stopping Hackers

I feel really stupid when I see players marvel and admire hackers in games, they almost worship the script kiddies and beg them to share the hack. This is not game exclusive, I've seen it everywhere. So how do we stop them? well unless the security developers stop snoring on their keyboards and start doing some undercover investigations. We can do it the way we have always done it. Isolation and solitary confinement are some of the worst punishment there is and it is easy to do. Kick them out, ignore them and tell them how much they suck. Most hackers do it to impress, for the recognition, hence without audience there is no point in doing it.

Sources

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker

http://www.taultunleashed.com/phpBB2/about36375.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=game+guard+error