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Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard's podcast and reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.
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Genshin Impact’s anti-cheat system is called mhyprot2. For years, security researchers have warned about the anti-cheat’s flaws. In 2020, a researcher showed that the system could be abused to read the computer’s memory and processes. Then in July of last year, a researcher who goes by Kento Oki published a proof-of-concept that turned the anti-cheat system into malicious software that could access the kernel. These concerns have been publicly discussed outside security circles as well. The website Pro Game Guides reported after the game’s launch that users were concerned about the anti-cheat system because it had kernel-level privileges and was running in the background even when the game was closed, going as far as wondering if it was spyware. The company responded to these concerns by updating the anti-cheat system so that it would turn off when users were not playing the game.Do you have information about these attacks? Or other ransomware incidents? We'd love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, Wickr/Telegram/Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzofb@vice.com
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