The Problem With Kernel-Mode Anti-Cheat Software [ML B-Side]

Nobody likes cheaters, especially in video games: we play games to have fun, and nothing hurts the joy of playing a good game more than losing to a cheater. That is why EA is not the only publisher to implement kernel-mode anti-cheat software in their games: League of Legends and Valorant, for example, use similar software. Yet some people warn that installing such kernel-level systems is extremely dangerous. So, what's the problem with kernel-mode anti-cheat software?

Hosted By

Ran Levi

Exec. Editor @ PI Media

Born in Israel in 1975, Ran studied Electrical Engineering at the Technion Institute of Technology, and worked as an electronics engineer and programmer for several High Tech companies in Israel.
In 2007, created the popular Israeli podcast, Making History, with over 15 million downloads as of July 2022.
Author of 3 books (all in Hebrew): Perpetuum Mobile: About the history of Perpetual Motion Machines; The Little University of Science: A book about all of Science (well, the important bits, anyway) in bite-sized chunks; Battle of Minds: About the history of computer malware.

Special Guest

Paul Chamberlain

Studio Head & Technical Director at New Avalon

I'm a game developer and technical leader with over 15 years of experience. My recent projects include Omega Strikers, Fortnite, VALORANT and League of Legends. In these projects I've taken the role of a technical director or lead engineer and managed software engineers and operations staff.
My tech specialties are gameplay prototyping, anti-cheat/security, game networking and performance optimization. I primarily work in Unreal Engine but have previously worked with Unity and proprietary engines.
Before the games industry I worked in a variety of information security roles.