Black Hat USA 2025 | Watching the Watchers: Exploring and Testing Defenses of Anti-Cheat Systems
Introduction to the Anti-Cheat Ecosystem The World of Game Cheats: The speakers explore the fast-paced, high-stakes battleground between cheat developers (attackers) and anti-cheat systems (defenders) in modern competitive shooter games []. The Cheat Economy: Cheating is a massive industry. Cheats are often sold via subscription models by well-run, sometimes legally registered companies, with some cheats costing upwards of $200 a month []. Because it is so lucrative, the attack-defense cycle is incredibly rapid. The Shift to the Kernel: Historically, cheats operated in user mode. As anti-cheats adapted, the…