• Dark ArcA
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    37
    ·
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    I mean it installs a rootkit on your computer that gives them full control over everything including what you type, hear, and see as well as the ability to record what you’ve previously typed and said. It could at any moment also fully disable your computer (as well as millions of other computers) rendering them useless.

    Just because they haven’t used it that way, don’t assume they can’t or won’t.

    • danc4498@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      Do they send this data over the network? Or is the data only used by the software installed on the machine?

      • Dark ArcA
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        edit-2
        22 hours ago

        They can do whatever they want. Operating systems are effectively divided into two partitions, privileged kernel space and user space.

        When you run a kernel level anticheat what you’re really doing is running a custom program in the kernel space. It effectively becomes part of Windows.

        This means that anything that an operating system can instruct hardware to do, that program can do. It can read your files, check your email, print letter you wrote to your crush in Word but “deleted” because it was embarrassing, log every key you type, turn on your webcam, listen to the microphone, download explicit or illegal imagery, upload your hard drive to the NSA, disable your computer fans, etc

        You really only want to run this stuff if it’s from a trustworthy vendor and even then it’s completely defensible to object to running one of these programs.

        Currently these things have yet to be caught doing any of these things, but that’s because they haven’t been instructed to, not because they can’t.

        • danc4498@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          22 hours ago

          I guess what I’m saying is if this information was being sent across a network, that would be detectable.

          • Dark ArcA
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            18 hours ago

            Sure, but by then it could be too late for the vast majority of people.

            It’s not super relevant if nobody is looking for it/it’s hard to detect even if you are and plenty of damage can be done prior to detection.