First of all, when we refer to rootkits, we're talking about the fact that NProtect, by design, gains an absolutely staggering amount of access to the kernel space of your computer. VAC, by comparison, does not demand anything like the same level of access. You're making an apples to oranges comparison, and when questioned on it responding with "But they're both citrus fruit, right?"

No, they're not, and the fact that you think they are means you don't know nearly as much about this subject as you think.

But putting that aside for a moment, suppose one day you went hang gliding. Then, upon telling me about how much you enjoyed it, I immediately demanded that you play Russian roulette with me, and got seriously offended when you refused. That would be insane, right?

So you see how a person consenting to one risk doesn't obligate them to consent to others? It's not an all or nothing state between "My computer is exposed to exactly zero vulnerabilities" and "My computer is exposed to literally every vulnerability ever".

Every single program you install on your computer brings some potential amount of risk, but a) that risk is MUCH higher when the program demands the kind of kernel level access to resources like your memory that NProtect wants, and b) that risk has to be commensurate to the benefits offered, and it's hard to see what benefit I'm being offered by a notably cheaply made kernel level anti-cheat in a purely cooperative gameplay experience.

[–] Goronmon@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago

I gave a concrete example of an exploit using Steam, and you've provided a hypothetical while arguing that your hypothetical example is much more risky (and compared it to hang gliding vs Russian roulette).

Specifically how much more of a risk is it to have kernel level anti-cheat installed than it is to install software like Steam and games on your system? Since you are claiming in-depth knowledge I would actually like to know more specifics for future reference. I don't find the hang-gliding/russian-roulette example super helpful personally.

...it’s hard to see what benefit I’m being offered by a notably cheaply made kernel level anti-cheat in a purely cooperative gameplay experience.

You don't see how it would affect your enjoyment of the game to have someone insta-killing all the enemies in a match, or generating 1000x more rewards than you would normally receive, breaking the progression permanently?