Why do hackers still pose a problem in online games?

In the late 1990s, we were all enthralled by the new world of online gaming. Quake 2, Jedi Knight and other groundbreaking titles showed players what the future would hold for digital competition. This early digital landscape was not as free as we had hoped. It was plagued by hacking.

We had hoped that developers would close up the holes in the code that hackers exploited. We believed that eventually, online games would be completely safe from bad actors. We were wrong, as anyone who plays games now knows.

What security measures do we have in place to combat gaming villains? And why can they sometimes fail?

Account Theft

Biometric security has been a positive development in the world of online safety. As a form hacking, account theft is a long-standing problem in online gaming. It affects the player’s access to games more than they do. Account theft, whether through brute force, keyloggers or lucky guesses has led to thousands of players losing games that they paid for.

Biometric security measures are a way to mitigate or eliminate the problem. explains that ExpressVPN uses biometrics to create pseudo-passwords. These systems, when combined with two-factor verification, make games virtually impenetrable. This technology is limited to account logins bj888.ing and cannot solve all the hacking issues that games face.

Hacks for In-Game Games

In-game hacks such as wall-hacks and aim-bots are the biggest problem for many players. They give cheaters a unfair advantage over players, and are a result of the complexity in modern code. Hackers are able to find weaknesses in almost all games these days because they have so many different points of entry. Hackers selling their tools further exacerbates this problem, as it allows even those with no technical knowledge to cheat.

It’s difficult to address this problem because security flaws are constantly evolving, and closing them is like playing a game called whack-a mole. reported by Vice that lawsuits filed against hack sellers may dissuade a few, but it is a constant battle for the majority. In free games, this problem is made worse by the fact that players can create as many accounts as they want after being banned. At least for full-priced games, being banned can come with severe financial penalties.

Denial of service attacks

Dedicated denial of services attacks (DDOS) are one of the most difficult hacks. These attacks flood a server with bots, preventing any desirable traffic from getting through. These attacks have rendered paid games, such as Titanfall unplayable. If the company is interested in investing in security measures and has the financial means to do so, it can fix this problem. However, if they don’t, like EA or Respawn in the Titanfall case, the game’s life expectancy could be cut short at any moment.

Hacking will continue to exist as long as players are willing to overlook the fact they had to cheat in order to win. Although it’s a shame, there is a consolation: as technology becomes more complex, it will become more difficult for one person to make sweeping changes.

We can only hope the developers and publishers keep upping their game. One day in-game hacking may be a powerful solution like account biometrics. We can only fight until then.