PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

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  • kaisermeow

    #1

    PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

    Hi there,

    I'm looking for clarification on an important issue I am concerned about. In many of the community forums I visit and indeed within my own clan, I have seen lots of players, mostly high ranking players, having their stats reset recently.

    The people who have had this done always claim to be the victim of some hacker who has spoofed their ID number and boosted their points on a hacked server, to a ridiculous amount. This is then spotted by ea (or who ever) and the account is reset to 0.

    I have 6 problems with this explanation.

    1) The people involved usually seem very suspect or dodgy anyway. I have personal and close experiences with at least 2 people who have recently been reset by a "hacker" and both of which I wouldn't have been surprised if they were cheating/hacking and both of which had padded stats to a degree (not in any major way, just things like the odd offline Commander etc.

    2) In all circumstances the 'victim' who has had their stats reset seems unwilling to appeal the stat reset , well certainly do anything other than email EA who they say, respond with a standard reply.

    3) Would EA/Dice really leave a massive security risk at large in the game - whereby any old kid could randomly get players' stats reset? Particularly as the stats, awards and unlocks system is such a big feature within the game!

    4) Why hasn't there been a bigger outcry among the community?

    5) Would the fact that its so easy to do (I've heard of a 17 year old kid doing it randomly to anyone he likes, its not even hacking into their account, just spoofing their PID), not mean that the stats system is open to abuse with players being able to manipulate state more discretely for their own benefit?

    6) The claims the 'victims' make is also that EA are unable to restore the stats data to the point just before the points "hack" on the victims account. Surely such a giant spike in points would be obvious to remove from an account. Also I fail to see how a players stats could not be restored within a few hours of their last genuine scores - I work in IT and deal extensively with backup procedures and know this can be done relatively easy in similar systems. It seems strange that a worldwide company, renowned for its gaming and pinning its hopes on future release on happy punters, would not even bother to support players losing their stats.


    Are these claims of stat resets at the hands of hackers genuine? Are they as widespread as it appears? Or are these latest claims of unfair stat resets just hackers/cheaters jumping on the bandwagon to cover their tracks and save face? Am I just paranoid?
  • =98=
    Member
    • Oct 2006
    • 10299

    #2
    Re: PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

    Recently, some people accidently joined servers which had hacked stats system on. So, their stats were effected without them knowing.

    If they are suspicious, they probably knew what they were doing, if not, it was most liekly an accident.
    And, yes, people sometimes do name hack people and then bolster stats with the idea of getting them wiped. But, this will usually be done by someone you know, not randomly.

    You can apply to EA to have stats reinstated by following pretty simple measures.

    EA/Dice could fix the problem, but it would mean taking apart a lot of code and reworking it. In the business world this will cost a lot of money due to design and testing, not to mention the time taken up where they could be working on Heroes, BF3 or Bad Company. So, it's simply not feasible for them to do anything. The large majority of players are unaffected.

    However, EA have moved to fix loopholes which prevent these stats hacked servers from working, and on the whole, it seems successful.

    Comment

    • kaisermeow

      #3
      Re: PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

      Originally posted by Alex98uk
      Recently, some people accidently joined servers which had hacked stats system on. So, their stats were effected without them knowing.

      If they are suspicious, they probably knew what they were doing, if not, it was most liekly an accident.
      And, yes, people sometimes do name hack people and then bolster stats with the idea of getting them wiped. But, this will usually be done by someone you know, not randomly.

      You can apply to EA to have stats reinstated by following pretty simple measures.

      EA/Dice could fix the problem, but it would mean taking apart a lot of code and reworking it. In the business world this will cost a lot of money due to design and testing, not to mention the time taken up where they could be working on Heroes, BF3 or Bad Company. So, it's simply not feasible for them to do anything. The large majority of players are unaffected.

      However, EA have moved to fix loopholes which prevent these stats hacked servers from working, and on the whole, it seems successful.


      Cheers, I appreciate the reply. Just a few things to pick up on that I would like further details on.

      The hacked server seems completely feasible and as you say is open to debate as to weather it was an accidental join or intentional.

      I would like to know more about this so called player ID hack though. From what I've heard it can be as simple as someone in gaming being upset with you and finding your PID out and using some open source program to spoof that ID to boost points in order to get a reset. Theory seems fine, but is it really that easy to hack a secure EA stats system server? It seems far too common an occorance, or excuse for gamers. Has EA confirmed this is a problem or even that its been rectified as you say? In terms of stat hacking I would have thought it could happen if someone had your account details and password, as EA's standard response mail to these victims, confirms. But are these spoofing programs for real?

      Just trying to get some facts about it all thats all.

      Comment

      • =98=
        Member
        • Oct 2006
        • 10299

        #4
        Re: PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

        Originally posted by kaisermeow
        I would like to know more about this so called player ID hack though. From what I've heard it can be as simple as someone in gaming being upset with you and finding your PID out and using some open source program to spoof that ID to boost points in order to get a reset.
        Yup, it's completely possible and happens. I don't think you can boost the points by programs, i think it still requires to the spoofer to stats pad or go on stats hacked servers. But, i could be wrong, such programs may exist, but usually stats have to be sent via a game server, not the players computer

        Originally posted by kaisermeow
        Theory seems fine, but is it really that easy to hack a secure EA stats system server?
        Given the time, anything that can be engineered can be reverse engineered. There are holes in the system, and they are exploited. So, once you have a working program, it is that easy to exploit.

        EA/Gamespy/Dice try to close the loopholes, but as is life,nothing can ever be perfect and gaps still exist. That is why there will be a a period of two weeks where the stats leaderboard goes mad as someone creates a program which can exploit the stats system. It gets closed and everything is normal until the next loophole is found.


        Originally posted by kaisermeow
        Theory seems fine, but is it really that easy Has EA confirmed this is a problem or even that its been rectified as you say?
        They admit there are problems and say they work on them. But, going back to my original comment, it's simply not feasible for a profit making company to focus on old software, so they won't be going all out to fix things.

        Originally posted by kaisermeow
        In terms of stat hacking I would have thought it could happen if someone had your account details and password
        Nope, username and password not needed.

        Originally posted by kaisermeow
        But are these spoofing programs for real?
        Yup.

        Comment

        • kaisermeow

          #5
          Re: PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

          Are there any stat sites that can give a comprehensive breakdown of servers a player has attended, ideally for as long a period as possible?

          Comment

          • =98=
            Member
            • Oct 2006
            • 10299

            #6
            Re: PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

            The nearest you'll get is this: http://www.raycaster.info/hackbuster/index.php

            It alerts you to whether people have been using namehacks on a server.

            Comment

            • signa
              CS-Nation / TGN Staff
              • Dec 2004
              • 4191

              #7
              Re: PID Hacks or elaborate hoax to cover cheating?

              Originally posted by kaisermeow
              Are there any stat sites that can give a comprehensive breakdown of servers a player has attended, ideally for as long a period as possible?
              this website does keep a server history. its in German, so just lookup a player and then click the server history.

              http://www.spieler-daten.de/
              "Crunch's First Officer"
              twitter: @signaprime

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