Is there currently any word of an AntiHack.dll file in the works?

[Varista]

The devs do a very good job at keeping the server on the up & up; the current GM staff also does an excellent job at meeting the needs of those that require GM assistance, however it seems like the frequency of hackers/cheaters screwing with people's characters or accounts is the same no matter what the server tried to do to stop them.

I hate to make this comparison, considering that not many people like this server or the people on it, but the technological advances of the server (despite it being a very different server internally) are hard to ignore, but schthack has come up with a very nice AntiHack.dll file that stops 99% of hacking and cheating on the server, although schthack is a very different server internally (quite literally, it's a completely different client, it's not even Tethaella), I believe there are a lot of ways that the current dev team or gm staff can help make such a file for the current version of the server.

Although the frequency of such attacks are very minimal at this current point, and the GM staff handles them appropriately with extreme prejudice and professionalism, I do think a word on this sort of thing should be given thought about, therefore, is there any news on a new AntiHack.dll file for Ultima?

[nerdmastax]

for one, please do not mention other servers on this forum, as it is against the rules.

secondly there are more hackers over on that server than you think.

thirdly for those hackers the dll is no showstopper, it is easily bypassed, for the users it means constant crashes, lockups, the game deciding to close programs on your computer etc.

there are back end protections here that are way more efficient. these will not be talked about to maintain their effectiveness and hopefully a gm will lock this topic and edit your post to remove that servers name. This is not a subject that should be open for discussion. Larva alone is the one who decides if he will add that.

If you care about Ultima's security then drop the subject.

[chuk]

The anti-hack is indeed easily bypassed, it's also pretty intrusive to the players as it reads in other processes and closes programs it thinks are related to hacking. Personally I was always thinking of making more use of "social control" to spot hackers with the help of the community. Making certain information public about accounts, game rooms, inventories etc so people who suspect someone can easily find evidence and report them.

Edited July 5, 2015 by chuk

[Varista]

The anti-hack is indeed easily bypassed, it's also pretty intrusive to the players as it reads in other processes and closes programs it thinks are related to hacking. Personally I was always thinking of making more use of "social control" to spot hackers with the help of the community. Making certain information public about accounts, game rooms, inventories etc so people who suspect someone can easily find evidence and report them.

I can see this being a double edged sword in all respects. On the one hand, you have the good players that can report people for the good of the community, and clearly spot "hacked" gear, but on the other, you may get reports that are super fishy and may not be true at all, but getting items are hard to prove without pictures.

It's unfortunate that our only way of proving whether or not something's hacked or not is whether they have a picture of getting it or not, or if somebody can vouch for them, as I'm sure you all know, each item has it's own hex code, but no matter whether your item is hacked or not, it will have the same hex code as all the other items of that type. If it were possible to create a client program that can detect outliers (?) in the coding process of items, like, say, the tool can detect when an unidentified item maker is currently being used, and a warning at the top of the screen as an announcement pops up, giving the guild card and item being created as a source of reference to who used it, I can see that being a great source of watching said cheaters.

I feel there are many ways to determine who is a hacker and why, AntiHack.dll does a good job at that, it's why recently there haven't been any cheaters or hackers over there in a while, Antihack.dll has never really had anything to do with stopping programs that are "related to hacking" on your computer, all those theories have been recently debunked by Crono and Lee themselves as just issues with individual computer firewalls going ape shit. Although the irony is not lost on me as to how this AntiHack.dll file would be ineffective on Ultima (because it's not created for Ultima, it's created for another server entirely), there could be versions created that do help solve some of the issues we face today.

Honestly, the GM staff does an excellent job at doing what they do, and Larva is hard at work I'm sure doing what he can, running a server is no easy feat, it's very difficult, and I praise them for being able to handle such a gigantic task, but I do feel like this is something that people can suggest features for to maybe help improve the security.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Auroboro

[nerdmastax]

I believe i told you not to private message me auroboro, especially after i rejected your application to the team because of your argumentative attitude and the fact that most people on the team despise you. so why did you pm me this drek?

Just cuz you're leader of pro does not mean you can prance around telling other people not to make topics and ask questions. Schthack has zero hackers, there hasn't been an attack on that server in quite literally 2 years. Just because you were around back when it had 500 people and there were hackers then, doesn't constitute your extreme ignorance on the topic.

Your blatant disregard for a professional outlook on the situation is very troublesome, for some one that regards themselves so very highly in this community, you seem to have a distinct lack of knowledge on internal server files and a gross lack of intelligence on any other server other than Ultima, and even at that point you're still incredibly ignorant and unqualified.

Speaking of other servers is not against the rules, advertising for said servers on the forum is against the rules, I don't feel like I need to read that fine print as it's very clearly stated that way, if you don't believe me, read it for yourself. There have been multiple mentions of schthack on this server, and hell, Larva lets Lee wander about doing and saying whatever he wants when he wants around here, and before you say "Lee was banned", he wasn't, he was just on like 2 months ago talking about server files in their entirety.

I'm very sorry that your displeasure of me goes so far as to be completely unwilling to even converse on server files that have benefited even the most unstable servers; as the subject is quite interesting. I will have to ask that you stop talking on my topics, if you don't like me, ignore me, otherwise the continuation of such negative feedback without any warranted reason for it will result in many reports towards you, and just because you're head of PRO doesn't mean you get a free out of jail card, sir. You're a player here like everybody else, we all expect open minded discussions like human beings about all topics, unless they are, very clearly talking negatively about some one else.

Thank you. If you didn't read it, don't blame me when the GM's are at your neck about this stuff.

i asked you not to try and ruin the security of the server, it is not your responsibility, discussion or business.

don't be jelly of my swag bro. you'll never be PRO

lol and gms down my throats? is that why chuk reiterated part of what i said?

[Soly]

Well.. this is going a bit to far... "AntiHack.dll" it doesn't matter the name of the library could be whatever "soly_rules.dll" ... I never played on scht but what i have heard of this antihack stuff is that it closes programs where it finds strings related to hacking and things like that... and as it has been said before is easily bypass-able putting such an effort on something that will just bloat the game and not give it any security (let's be honest there)... I think is a no go.

Also Auroboro, I have been helping here in Ultima but I also have been working with nero with the public tethealla server software and I am pretty sure he does not lack of knowledge nor intelligence.

[Varista]

Well.. this is going a bit to far... "AntiHack.dll" it doesn't matter the name of the library could be whatever "soly_rules.dll" ... I never played on scht but what i have heard of this antihack stuff is that it closes programs where it finds strings related to hacking and things like that... and as it has been said before is easily bypass-able putting such an effort on something that will just bloat the game and not give it any security (let's be honest there)... I think is a no go.

Also Auroboro, I have been helping here in Ultima but I also have been working with nero with the public tethealla server software and I am pretty sure he does not lack of knowledge nor intelligence.

hey, it's not my fault he's not educated on any server files regarding other servers.

Or my fault he chooses to start drama because he cant handle the comparison of other servers technology when this server has a lot of components from other servers implemented into it to make it better.

My argument wasn't necessarily towards it being a AntiHack.dll file more than it was just an idea to implement new ways to catch cheaters/hackers. I honestly dont care if the server doesn't have an AntiHack.dll file because AntiHack.dll does not work with Tethaella because it was implemented for schthack's server design (which was started from scratch, not from Tethaella).

The point is, in case nero is still too busy being butthurt about schthack's superior internal server design (not that Tethaella is bad in any way), is that there are multiple ways we can implement ideas brought up by the community that can help detect such activity.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Auroboro

[Fyrewolf5]

The only one I see being butthurt here is you Auroboro. Nero did not insult you when he told you ultima is doing things a different way and that such an antihack.dll is not the route they are taking. Seeing his post and then sending him a very insulting pm like that, is the very definition of butthurt. Ultima has its own way of doing things to stop hacking and it's not going to be discussed here publicly, so there's nothing more to this topic really.

[Soly]

While I do appreciate your interest in this matter I don't think we will ever implement something like that, there isn't any work on it either and as saith said and I'm sure you understand any security improvements won't be shared publicly (most probably). But we do work to improve the security and stability of the server.

[Cyane]

Locking this baby up before it catches on fire.