teasing hackers
It would be possible to store machine specific information into the game when a crack is detected and make the notifications only occur when the information does not match. That way the cracker is not informed that his crack didn''t work but the person who is trying to use the crack is.
Interesting... But I''m sure that if there are any messages or any other activity regarding state checks, then bad guys will unevitably track the checking code itself - there''s no way to hide it from these monsters whose abilities are almost paranormal...
What I suggest is two parts:
A). if code or data are changed, it affects some basic game mechanisms in such way, that it leads to crashes, access violations, out-of syncs, memory leaks and other FATAL things every few hours... But it is really hard to implement...
B). Every fatal error is catched and followed by message like this: "Please check your drivers and hardware configuration and make sure that you are using legal version of this program, since our mighty and unvulnerable crack protection slowly destroys internal data structures if game is cracked".
But anyway nothing can stop pirates from just copying your CDs in their factories and printing CD-key on front of it...
What I suggest is two parts:
A). if code or data are changed, it affects some basic game mechanisms in such way, that it leads to crashes, access violations, out-of syncs, memory leaks and other FATAL things every few hours... But it is really hard to implement...
B). Every fatal error is catched and followed by message like this: "Please check your drivers and hardware configuration and make sure that you are using legal version of this program, since our mighty and unvulnerable crack protection slowly destroys internal data structures if game is cracked".
But anyway nothing can stop pirates from just copying your CDs in their factories and printing CD-key on front of it...
Nothing would frustrate crackers more than randomly fractal generated sphyncterization.
If you are a cracker, you know what I mean.
If you are a cracker, you know what I mean.
Use some global characteristic of the game files as an in-game constant - requires some doing to get right, but would be very hard to track down too.
I had written more, but 500 ate it...
Come to that, why not just get the cracked version to display an HTTP Error 500 screen every time someone tries doing anything - sure to drive anyone crazy
I had written more, but 500 ate it...
Come to that, why not just get the cracked version to display an HTTP Error 500 screen every time someone tries doing anything - sure to drive anyone crazy
Author
It''s occured to me we are dealing with at least two distinct groups of people
Some people will want to beat us at the anti-crack game. They will be interested in any protection we install and are determined to root out every trick used. There can be no defence against this kind of intrusion.
Some people will want to make illegal copies. They are more likely to be doing the crack for their own personal piracy, or to distribute and make a name for themselves online as being The One Who Defeated xxxx. This kind of cracker will be impatiently looking for shortcuts eg a conditional jump which can be sabotaged to quick-fix the protection. Unless they also have a love of exploring the program in-depth, they will not dig around to find self-assembling code etc
If the main opponent is the lazy pirate, they can be discouraged by simply making the code SEEM uncrackable. Even though common sense says "if it can be done, it can be undone", after a while people give up and say "this can''t be done".
We have several things to advantage:
* the compiler can generate hundreds or thousands of unique, distinct anti-crack instructions at arbitary infrequently called places in the code. Each of these would have to be individually identified and overwritten.
* we can be creative and invent totally new unorthadox tricks which are not yet UNDERSTOOD by the cracker
* the sheer mass of data in a game means that, by hiding crack code within textures, scripts etc, there are potentially millions of places to hide
* we know how to undo our own code and can add indefinite layers of obfustication
* any online game that needs servers can be made uncrackable with CD key duplication tests
We can inspire the "this is impossible" feeling by interlacing crack tests with normal code, essentially making it invisible.
If there are many checks run on checks, every time the cracker solves one part, another manifests itself FOR THE FIRST TIME. If crack code can''t even be identified until other crack code is cracked, it will seem that nothing the cracker tries works. This is demoralizing. Dependancy chains rule (or better yet, loops).
If finding crack code means playing the game and watching until crack detection kicks in, the search task can be ridiculously large. What if some crack detection only kicks in if you find all the secret areas? Or follow a certain conversation tree? Or complete the level with no health lost? Or jump 7 times in a minute? Or exploring every area of a nonlinear story? Endless replays (especially with restricted loads/saves) could drive a cracker insane. If it takes a minimum of 500 hours to explore every area a player might normally visit, that''s about 40 days to make a complete crack.
Nonlinear stories are an anti-crack gift from god, if following a certain story path triggers a script which assembles anti-crack code to be activated when an area is re-visited 7 levels later.....
********
A Problem Worthy of Attack
Proves It''s Worth by Fighting Back
Some people will want to beat us at the anti-crack game. They will be interested in any protection we install and are determined to root out every trick used. There can be no defence against this kind of intrusion.
Some people will want to make illegal copies. They are more likely to be doing the crack for their own personal piracy, or to distribute and make a name for themselves online as being The One Who Defeated xxxx. This kind of cracker will be impatiently looking for shortcuts eg a conditional jump which can be sabotaged to quick-fix the protection. Unless they also have a love of exploring the program in-depth, they will not dig around to find self-assembling code etc
If the main opponent is the lazy pirate, they can be discouraged by simply making the code SEEM uncrackable. Even though common sense says "if it can be done, it can be undone", after a while people give up and say "this can''t be done".
We have several things to advantage:
* the compiler can generate hundreds or thousands of unique, distinct anti-crack instructions at arbitary infrequently called places in the code. Each of these would have to be individually identified and overwritten.
* we can be creative and invent totally new unorthadox tricks which are not yet UNDERSTOOD by the cracker
* the sheer mass of data in a game means that, by hiding crack code within textures, scripts etc, there are potentially millions of places to hide
* we know how to undo our own code and can add indefinite layers of obfustication
* any online game that needs servers can be made uncrackable with CD key duplication tests
We can inspire the "this is impossible" feeling by interlacing crack tests with normal code, essentially making it invisible.
If there are many checks run on checks, every time the cracker solves one part, another manifests itself FOR THE FIRST TIME. If crack code can''t even be identified until other crack code is cracked, it will seem that nothing the cracker tries works. This is demoralizing. Dependancy chains rule (or better yet, loops).
If finding crack code means playing the game and watching until crack detection kicks in, the search task can be ridiculously large. What if some crack detection only kicks in if you find all the secret areas? Or follow a certain conversation tree? Or complete the level with no health lost? Or jump 7 times in a minute? Or exploring every area of a nonlinear story? Endless replays (especially with restricted loads/saves) could drive a cracker insane. If it takes a minimum of 500 hours to explore every area a player might normally visit, that''s about 40 days to make a complete crack.
Nonlinear stories are an anti-crack gift from god, if following a certain story path triggers a script which assembles anti-crack code to be activated when an area is re-visited 7 levels later.....
********
A Problem Worthy of Attack
Proves It''s Worth by Fighting Back
Author
How's this for covertly making the hacker really angry: scatter masses of useable anti-crack code but never use most of it. The cracker will spend a long time wondering why their modifications have no effect.
********
A Problem Worthy of Attack
Proves It's Worth by Fighting Back
[edited by - walkingcarcass on February 26, 2003 3:05:12 PM]
********
A Problem Worthy of Attack
Proves It's Worth by Fighting Back
[edited by - walkingcarcass on February 26, 2003 3:05:12 PM]
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
