Game Cheat Detection via Virtual Instance Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for detecting cheating in online games, such as those disclosed in Patent Literature 1, are costly to maintain and can be hindered by reverse engineering, lacking an effective solution for illegitimate tampering of client-side game data.
Innovation Solution
A system that generates virtual instances of a user terminal on a server, executes the game program in a headless mode, and compares results with user-generated results to detect cheating, utilizing virtualization and load balancing for efficient cheat detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a special program for scanning memory is created to detect cheating, then cheat detection capability is improved, but maintenance costs increase and the system becomes vulnerable to reverse engineering
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates virtual copies (virtual instances) of the user terminal that execute the game program. These virtual instances serve as copies for verification purposes, allowing the server to detect cheating by comparing results from the virtual instance with results from the actual user terminal, without requiring special scanning programs
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual instance executes the game program itself and generates verification results autonomously. The system uses the game program's own execution in a virtual environment to verify integrity, eliminating the need for external monitoring tools or special detection programs that would require maintenance and are vulnerable to reverse engineering
2Reliability
If game logic is implemented on the server side to prevent cheating, then security is improved, but communication requirements increase and server congestion occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential verification logic from the game program and executes it in a virtual instance on the server. This allows security verification to be performed without requiring the entire game logic to run on the server, maintaining client-side responsiveness while preventing cheating through result comparison
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual instance acts as an intermediary between the user terminal and the server's verification system. It executes the game program in a controlled environment and provides verification results, enabling security checks without direct server-game logic integration that would cause congestion
3Ease of operation
If game logic is implemented on the client side for responsive gameplay, then user experience is improved, but susceptibility to cheating increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the server receives execution results from both the user terminal and a virtual instance, compares them, and provides verification feedback. This allows client-side execution for responsiveness while using server-side verification feedback to detect and prevent cheating
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a system including: a user terminal that executes a game program for playing a game, that determines a parameter for executing a certain event in the game, and that executes the event on the basis of the parameter to generate a user result; a result-for-verification generation unit that generates a plurality of virtual instances for virtualizing the user terminal, that executes the game program in a headless mode in the plurality of virtual instances, that selects, from the plurality of virtual instances, a virtual instance for executing the event on the basis of the parameter received by a server, and that executes the event in the selected virtual instance on the basis of the parameter to generate a result for verification; and a cheat verification unit that compares the user result with the result for verification to determine whether or not cheating has been conducted at the user terminal.