The Cheating Epidemic

In recent times, the battle royale sensation Apex Legends has been plagued by a rampant cheating epidemic, jeopardizing the game's competitive integrity and player experience. Across all platforms, from PC to consoles, players have encountered an alarming surge in cheaters employing various nefarious tactics like aimbots and wallhacks. This unrelenting onslaught has served as a wake-up call, highlighting the dire need for a robust and revamped anti-cheat system.

The Hacking Incident: A Chilling Demonstration

The gravity of the situation reached a tipping point during the recent Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) LAN qualifiers, where two prominent streamers, Genburten and ImperialHal, fell victim to a brazen hacking attack while competing live. In a shocking turn of events, the hackers gained access to their accounts, injected cheats, and forced them to play with aimbots and wallhacks enabled.

The footage of this incident quickly went viral, capturing the streamers' confusion and anguish as they grappled with the realization that their accounts had been compromised. Genburten was suddenly able to see every other player on the map, even through walls, while ImperialHal found himself saddled with an aimbot, automatically locking onto targets.

The Call for Action: Revamping the Anti-Cheat System

In the wake of this incident, the Anti-Cheat Police Department (ACPD), a volunteer group dedicated to combating cheating, issued a statement suggesting that a Remote Code Execution (RCE) exploit was being abused in Apex Legends. RCEs are particularly concerning as they allow attackers to run malicious software on remote machines, potentially enabling them to take control of systems or install malware.

The ACPD advised players to take immediate steps to protect their personal information, such as changing passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication, and even performing a clean operating system reinstall to mitigate potential risks.

Easy Anti-Cheat's Response: Deflecting Responsibility

In response to the allegations of an RCE vulnerability within its software, Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC), the anti-cheat solution used by Apex Legends, issued a statement denying any such vulnerability within its system. This statement marked the first time EAC had tweeted since May 2019, underscoring the gravity of the situation.

EAC stated that after investigating the reports, they were confident that there was no RCE vulnerability within their software being exploited. However, the ACPD responded by suggesting that the issue might lie within the Source engine used by Apex Legends, potentially similar to a vulnerability detailed in 2021.

Respawn's Silence and the Postponement of ALGS Finals

Amidst the fallout from the hacking incident, Respawn Entertainment, the developers of Apex Legends, have remained conspicuously silent, leaving players and the community in a state of uncertainty. The North American finals of the ALGS were postponed due to the compromised competitive integrity, but no clear timeline has been provided for their resumption.

Players are left wondering about the risk of continuing to play Apex Legends and the measures being taken to address the security vulnerabilities that enabled this brazen attack. The lack of communication from Respawn has only fueled speculation and concern within the community.

The Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat Debate

In the wake of this incident, the discussion around kernel-level anti-cheat solutions has gained renewed attention. Kernel-level access allows anti-cheat software to operate at a deeper system level, potentially providing better detection and prevention of cheats that operate in the kernel space.

However, this level of access also raises concerns about privacy and the potential risks associated with granting third-party software such extensive system privileges. Some players have expressed reservations about adopting kernel-level anti-cheat solutions, citing the potential for vulnerabilities or misuse by the software developers.

EA's Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat (EAAC) Initiative

In a proactive move to combat cheating, Electronic Arts (EA) has announced