Article

Cheating in networked computer games: a review

Authors:

Steven Daniel Webb,

Sieteng SohAuthors Info & Claims

DIMEA '07: Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Digital interactive media in entertainment and arts

Pages 105 - 112

https://doi.org/10.1145/1306813.1306839

Published: 19 September 2007 Publication History

Abstract

The increasing popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) -- games involving thousands of players participating simultaneously in a single virtual world - has highlighted the scalability bottlenecks present in centralised Client/Server (C/S) architectures. Researchers are proposing Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architectures as a scalable alternative to C/S; however, P2P is more vulnerable to cheating as it decentralises the game state and logic to un-trusted peer machines, rather than using trusted centralised servers. Cheating is a major concern for online games, as a minority of cheaters can potentially ruin the game for all players. In this paper we present a review and classification of known cheats, and provide real-world examples where possible. Further, we discuss counter measures used by C/S architectures to prevent cheating. Finally, we discuss several P2P architectures designed to prevent cheating, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.

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Klostermeyer PKlivan SHöltervennhoff SKrause ABusch NFahl SLuo BLiao XXu JKirda ELie D(2024)Skipping the Security Side Quests: A Qualitative Study on Security Practices and Challenges in Game DevelopmentProceedings of the 2024 on ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security10.1145/3658644.3690190(2651-2665)Online publication date: 2-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3658644.3690190
Chan Yip Hon BZaghdoudi BPotop-Butucaru MTixeuil SFdida S(2024)Challenger: Blockchain-based Massively Multiplayer Online Game ArchitectureNetworked Systems10.1007/978-3-031-67321-4_3(50-66)Online publication date: 25-Aug-2024
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Index Terms

Cheating in networked computer games: a review
1. Security and privacy
  1. Network security

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Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

DIMEA '07: Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Digital interactive media in entertainment and arts

September 2007

212 pages

ISBN:9781595937087

DOI:10.1145/1306813

Conference Chairs:
Kevin Kok Wai Wong
Murdoch University, Australia
,
Lance Fung
Murdoch University, Australia
,
Peter Cole
Murdoch University, Australia

Copyright © 2007 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Sponsors

IFIP Specialist Group on Entertainment Computing
IEEE Western Australia Section
Murdoch University
Department of Industry and Resources
Nokia
ACM: Association for Computing Machinery
SIGCHI Singapore

In-Cooperation

SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 19 September 2007

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DIMEA07

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ACM

DIMEA07: Second International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts

September 19 - 21, 2007

Perth, Australia

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Overall Acceptance Rate 59 of 77 submissions, 77%

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Cited By

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s24144737
Klostermeyer PKlivan SHöltervennhoff SKrause ABusch NFahl SLuo BLiao XXu JKirda ELie D(2024)Skipping the Security Side Quests: A Qualitative Study on Security Practices and Challenges in Game DevelopmentProceedings of the 2024 on ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security10.1145/3658644.3690190(2651-2665)Online publication date: 2-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3658644.3690190
Chan Yip Hon BZaghdoudi BPotop-Butucaru MTixeuil SFdida S(2024)Challenger: Blockchain-based Massively Multiplayer Online Game ArchitectureNetworked Systems10.1007/978-3-031-67321-4_3(50-66)Online publication date: 25-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67321-4_3
Schrör SMüller FSchädlich F(2023)Überwachen und Strafen im Online-Gaming?Politiken des (digitalen) Spiels10.14361/9783839467909-017(279-290)Online publication date: 2-Oct-2023
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Benhabbour IBromberg YDacier MDietrich SRodrigues REsteves-Verissimo P(2023)Attacks on tomorrow’s virtual world2023 53rd Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks - Supplemental Volume (DSN-S)10.1109/DSN-S58398.2023.00033(105-110)Online publication date: Jun-2023
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Boldi ARapp A(2023)“Is It Legit, To You?”. An Exploration of Players’ Perceptions of Cheating in a Multiplayer Video Game: Making Sense of UncertaintyInternational Journal of Human–Computer Interaction10.1080/10447318.2023.220427640:15(4021-4041)Online publication date: 28-Apr-2023
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Cohen TGriggs AKeebler JLazzara EDoherty SKanji FGewertz B(2020)Using Escape Rooms for Conducting Team Research: Understanding Development, Considerations, and ChallengesSimulation & Gaming10.1177/1046878120907943(104687812090794)Online publication date: 4-Mar-2020
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Leutner FChamorro-Premuzic T(2018)Stronger Together: Personality, Intelligence and the Assessment of Career PotentialJournal of Intelligence10.3390/jintelligence60400496:4(49)Online publication date: 13-Nov-2018
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Prather JNix RJessup R(2017)Trust management for cheating detection in distributed massively multiplayer online gamesProceedings of the 15th Annual Workshop on Network and Systems Support for Games10.5555/3167906.3167915(40-42)Online publication date: 22-Jun-2017
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