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'Counter-Strike' Gets Invaded By An Unblockable Chat-Bot (kotaku.com)
An anonymous reader writes:
"At least one intruder is taking advantage of a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive exploit to flood lobbies (even private ones) with text from chat bots that can't be kicked," writes Engadget. The attack "allegedly comes from one person," according to Kotaku, which reports that "It's a similar exploit to one found a few weeks ago, where typing messages into a lobby allowed users to rank up and down as they chose." The chat bot's text includes various complaints about Counter-Strike which it claims motivated the attack, including cheaters, hackers and "bugs that break the game," and it urges a one-day boycott "to proof [sic] them that we care about the game and want them to fix it."
It's almost impossible to eradicate cheaters in CS:GO and similar games for one important reason: CS:GO servers send you full information about all the gamers who're playing the match with you, which means it's quite trivial to intercept this information and modify certain game engine variables to e.g. make other players visible though the walls (wallhack) or to make your bullets always reach the destination (aimbot). Now even if you don't send all the information, the game still has to show other visible nearby players to you, so dealing with aimbots seems like a lost game.
Speaking frankly I've got no idea if this problem can be fixed at all except for controlled LAN matches (but even then we've had reports that certain cheaters made through by bringing their cheat programs inside their mice - the mouse is connected via USB which makes it trivial to extend its internals to include a mass storage device).
To give Valve credit they're now testing an AI to detect cheaters. They do it because it's virtually impossible to detect cheat applications using any sort of matching (like antiviruses do).
Using an exploit to highlight the exploit and lack of support, is not exactly the same as robbing a bank.
Yes it is. If I figure out that a certain sequence of events gets me into the vault and out again with as much money as I like, then I can choose to notify the bank, or publish it in the interest of customers. Those are the ethical and legal options. I have no right then to rob then bank if because they ignored me. It is still illegal regardless of how cool you think it is.
I must admit I still play the CS:GO regularly.
I have also played with and against cheaters quite regularly and have been told through the in-game menu that players I have played with in previous matches have been permanently banned for cheating and had my match statistics readjusted to reflect that, as it seems matches with cheaters get voided.
It's really annoying, and especially when it gets really evident like when you sneak towards a corner making no sounds and the guy around just knows you are getting close and starts prefiring. This happens way more often than it should, and reporting users seems not to work.