How to spot a hacker in demos
#1
Since spotting a hacker in a demo has been a topic of much deliberation lately, I thought I would open a thread where players could post their methods of doing such and possibly we could all learn a bit from each other.

Please give not just a tip but an example as well. I will read them and then post them up here so people can read the most popular methods. I know that we as humans will never be able to spot a hacker every time but this is a start towards education for server owners.


First topic:

How to spot a recoil hack.

Example Demo involved in an investigation

The way to spot a recoil hacker is to do one or all of these things:

1. Look at there crosshair, see if it moves and by how much when they shoot.
2. Look at the playermodel. If it does not move back a cube (with SMG) when shot from a standing still position, somethings up.
3. Observe movement when the player is running and shooting.
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#2
4. Snap too aiming. By this i mean when someone is shooting and the crosshair automatically "snaps" to an enemy.
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#3
Isnt the best way to ask a cheater what it looks like when using whatever and what we should try to spot.
There are former cheaters on this forum that can explain that.
And i dont think this thread will do any good except for cheaters to find out how to not make it visible if its possible to hide it somehow.
It might backfire..
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#4
X.X X.X
Spam spam spam
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#5
Matasar, I think you're right.
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#6
Simply watching player movements is an awful way of detecting anything. It's all conjecture unless you have measurements(Or obvious, impossible maneuvers).

And I hardly think this thread is a good idea. How many times has Brahma stated he won't reveal what he looked for in demos? And now you want other to do the same on a public forum?
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#7
Mael, I think this thread could be useful because at the moment we have people who have no experience of watching cheaters in demos expressing strong opinions on whether someone is hacking or not. Maybe a little education would have greater positive effects than negative. It is not healthy for the knowledge of how to identify hackers to be confined to a select few.

Simple hacks (like excessive speed) can be separated from honest players in an easy way and so can be described easily using simple measurements and statistics. More complex cases require human judgement, even if that judgment is just to decide which few of a large set of possible measurements to consider. When deciding to ban someone based on a statistical assessment, you should first ask yourself if you truly understand the techniques that have been used. Remember, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
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#8
The problem with the methods listed above is few of them are any use unless you have access to the data.

Recoil is random and no one who intends to win(And therefore has motivation to cheat) will stand still when shooting. Not to mention recoil and kickback are two entirely different things, and many would consider reduced kickback a disadvantage.

Factor in ping and pj fluctuations and you have a sloppy representation of what may or may not be cheating. High and/or unstable pj can produce awkward, "mechanical" movements that are evidence of nothing.

Only the most obvious cheaters are revealed by watching their demos. And in those cases I don't think anyone needs a lesson on how to spot them.
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#9
I would beg to differ a little on some of your points Mael.
Some of you may remember a fellow by the name of BRONKINIUS (or something to that effect) who was using an aimbot a while back. Despite the fact that Brahma analyzed the demo using whatever methods he uses, he found no empirical evidence that the fellow was cheating (although from watching the demo it was blatantly obvious he was hacking).
So sometimes (albeit rarely) it is necessary to manually analyze a demo.
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#10
Viper, you could use some of these tips on how to spot a hacker.
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#11
(23 Jun 10, 07:32AM)Carnifex Wrote: Viper, you could use some of these tips on how to spot a hacker.

lol
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#12
watch demo with /gamespeed 30
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#13
thanks a lot, it will be useful to watch demo and with /gamespeed too
continue like that ;)
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#14
I received a 20% warning from Drakas for posting just this sort of information on the old forums a couple months ago. My posts (along with the whole topic, actually) were deleted. Could someone with authority perhaps clarify whether or not this sort of discussion is allowed?
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#15
This sort of discussion is not allowed... but we all are tired of warning/delete/close for the same reasons all time...

This kind of thread will always appear... people will suggest the most absurd things, and few will be listened...
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#16
It is very important that only Brahma knows how to spot a hacker in a demo. You should all trust him.
Judge, jury and executioner.
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#17
Bloodsport, Brahma is a human being, he can do mistakes sometimes as much as everyone else in this world.
But i think hes really good at what hes doing.
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#18
My point was simply that the downside of having the judgment of hackers confined to a core elite far outweighs the benefits.
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