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Valve Anti-Cheat seems to scan your DNS cache, but probably doesn't send it anywhere

BibiMaghoo

Member
No video game company, has any right at all to look through my browser history. If that is true, that is pretty disgusting.
 

crozier

Member
I really don't play MP titles apart from MMOs on the PC nowadays due to rampant cheating. If this stops it cold, I'll come back.
 

Nzyme32

Member
Security through obscurity is generally an illusion. Robust security systems should be able to be widely understood without being compromised, and transparency can often increase their efficacy by allowing more people to spot potential flaws in their implementation.

Touche! It will be good to see if valve actually respond. We don't usually get to see their responses to bad stuff.
 

Orayn

Member
Where does it say Valve is collecting this info? If this is true, it would seem to me they are looking for very specific hashes on the client side and acting on the server side if that very specific hash is found. And even that doesn't seem to be confirmed.

Why is everyone going so far with the hyperbole with so little information?

It would seem that "Reddit user claims, with inadequate evidence" = "GOD HIMSELF DESCENDS FROM ON HIGH TO DELIVER UNTO US THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH" if the topic is juicy enough.
 

Dire

Member
Security through obscurity is generally an illusion. Robust security systems should be able to be widely understood without being compromised, and transparency can often increase their efficacy by allowing more people to spot potential flaws in their implementation.

I agree, but anti-cheat measures are essentially the opposite of robust security systems. Their whole goal is essentially impossible. It's just an endless game of cat and mouse, and obscurity is quite helpful in that regard.
 

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
They are assuming that everyone is a cheater, by invading their privacy. The police don't search everyone's house in the hopes of catching criminals.

And given that Valve is based in the USA, people are justified in having concerns over the explicit usage of this data.
Just want to poke some holes, isn't the legal argument for road stops not being an invasion of privacy is that they do check every one indiscriminately.
 

Macmanus

Member
If EA did this with Origin people would be grabbing their pitchforks but because it's Valve i bet a lot of people will let it slide and say the usual "i have nothing to hide"

I wish posts like this just resulted in a ban. Absolutely destructive to actual conversation.
 
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is
 

Zeppelin

Member
Should be pretty easy to confirm. Just flush your cache, visit a couple of sites and start a Wireshark capture and then search through the captured data for MD5s of the sites you visited.
 

Skyblue

Banned
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is

Disappointing but expected, Valve has been anti-consumer for a while now I guess when you've made your millions you don't give a shit about your costumers anymore.
 

Rafterman

Banned
EA DO do this with Punkbuster, as previously mentioned.

They also DID do this, but to a larger degree by scanning your entire system just by running Origin, without any pretense at being used as an anti-cheat mechanism, whereas (if true) VAC would only do this when connecting to a VACD secured server not just in running Steam.

No, they didn't.

The truth was that Origin didn't and doesn't scan for anything that Steam wasn't already doing at the time. People hate EA so someone posts a screenshot on Reddit and everyone jumps on the bandwagon and claims shit that isn't true. Your claim was proven false over two years ago, and it's amazing that people still keep bringing it up.

Proxy already posted part of it but here are full reads of what was actually happening at the time:

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/archive/index.php/t-67131.html

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/lsoj6/still_thinking_eas_origin_is_harmless/c2vbjty
 

Nzyme32

Member
Disappointing but expected, Valve has been anti-consumer for a while now I guess when you've made your millions you don't give a shit about your costumers anymore.

Well I've not really had any anti-consumer issues with them till right now, if this is true. I don't think I have the know how though to actually identify if this is actually caused by VAC and being sent to valve
 

CheesecakeRecipe

Stormy Grey
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is

bravo
 

kinggroin

Banned
Disappointing but expected, Valve has been anti-consumer for a while now I guess when you've made your millions you don't give a shit about your costumers anymore.

That port...


Isn't that just a readout of your in-game network performance?

Dev console isn't some big secret either, that sgit is widely available to get to in their games.


Edit: OK, you're making fun. Good show.

Lol at those who blindly believed you too.
 

Chobel

Member
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is

This "net total" could be anything. You're playing an online game.

edit: Oh, of course, this is a joke.
 
D

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member
Dude thats ghetto. I haven't played on a VAC server since like December but thats not cool at all.
 
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is

heh, nice one
 

Nzyme32

Member
No, they didn't.

The truth was that Origin didn't and doesn't scan for anything that Steam wasn't already doing at the time. People hate EA so someone posts a screenshot on Reddit and everyone jumps on the bandwagon and claims shit that isn't true. Your claim was proven false over two years ago, and it's amazing that people still keep bringing it up.

Proxy already posted part of it but here are full reads of what was actually happening at the time:

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/archive/index.php/t-67131.html

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/lsoj6/still_thinking_eas_origin_is_harmless/c2vbjty

Reddit syndrome. If EA hadn't actually caused lots of problems with genuinely blatant anti-consumer issues like the BF bad company stuff way back, that people had to really fight against, I doubt EA would get such massive over reactions in threads.

Valve is like the opposite mirror image of that. They have such faith in them because of there usual good policies that the odd or dodgy ones get a less of an aggressive stance.
 

Desty

Banned
The tide is turning on you Valve. Clearly the only recourse is to release Half Life 3. Then it will be ok to download the contents of my hard drive.
 

Qassim

Member
Valve are not inept enough to think that having a list of naked domains is acceptable proof of cheating. We're not talking about Nintendo here.

Where's your proof that they believe that this is the case? Who says it isn't just used as a way to strengthen a case against a user? To try and potentially find more evidence on a suspected cheater - e.g. if VAC has what is believed as a full match on a detected cheat - they could try and use other evidence to add extra layers of protection against false-positives.

Anti-cheat is a difficult thing to talk about, because whilst security through obscurity isn't a great way to develop these things, I can imagine Valve aren't that willing to openly talk about what VAC does. On the other hand, those developing the cheats will find out what VAC does and if possible try and avoid detection, so I think Valve (and others) are probably best just to be transparent when they make updates to how certain background things like this work.
 

DTKT

Member
Anyone half serious about cheating can easily circumvent that scan. It's probably used as another source of info when they suspect someone.

Still a very intrusive thing to do.
 

Axial

Member
Most of the so called 'undetectable' pay hacks are client-server apps which connect to certain servers for updates and what not. If this helps to get rid of cheating scumbags then more power to Valve.
 
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is

Can you take down the NSA next?
 

Liha

Banned
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is

This is disgusting
 

fader

Member
I don't understand why people are all of a sudden so iffy about privacy. So what if they saw you went on bang bros, i don't see how they use that information would effect you.
 

Axial

Member
Sounds to me like you're a hacker cheater.
Not sure if sarcasm or lack of reading comprehension.
Srsly not a nice thing to say.
What I wrote is pretty much basic knowledge for people playing competetive PC shooters on a daily basis. Go to any discussion about cheats and hacks, wether it's on the Battlefield community forums or any other online FPS and you'll get all the necessary informations on that topic. Know your enemy!
 

inky

Member
Umm guys I think I just confirmed this, I was playing CS:GO and the game is uploading some "Data" and "Packets" (what I assume is my DNS information = "net total" -> total net information) to the Valve servers ALL THE TIME!! What the hell Valve

a8UvsPW.jpg


I used a tool called "developers console" which means that this info should be only available for developers but here it is

I understand now this is why Valve spies on us. Because hackers like you are using developer-only features to find out about stuff you shouldn't.

I hope Valve bans you for this!
 
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