Wednesday, August 15, 2007

ISXWarden woes

I believe I've finally found the bug in ISXWarden causing the recent Inner Space bans.

There was a possibility of data being sent back to Blizzard that would appear to be corruption of Warden scan results, in rare (but predictable) cases. This bug would cause results consistent with the reported bans and test cases provided by users (e.g. Tenshi). I do not yet have confirmation that this was the culprit, but that should come sometime before next Tuesday, if this is it. I'm pretty sure that's the one, but until I get the confirmation, pretty sure is the best I can give.

Since at least one person asked me if they can put "face -fast" back in, I will reiterate an older point. Client-side protections are great, but they will only take you so far -- you have to go the last mile yourself by making sure your bot is as human as possible. When I was your age, we dialed up to local BBSs and played games through text -- there was no such thing as client-side detection. If scripting (or "botting" or "macroing" if you prefer) was not allowed, looking as human as possible was the only available protection. Just because client-side detection exists now, does not mean you should give up your front line of defense just because the rear is covered! So no, my recommendations on that stand. Look as human as possible. High speed high precision is not particularly human-like.

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