Vanguard, the controversial anti-cheat software initially attached to Valorant, is now also coming to League of Legends.
Summary:
The article discusses Riot Games’ requirement for players to install their Vanguard anti-cheat software, which runs at the kernel level, in order to play their games such as League of Legends and Valorant. The software aims to combat cheating by scanning for known vulnerabilities and blocking them, as well as monitoring for suspicious activity while the game is being played. However, the use of kernel-level software raises concerns about privacy and security, as it grants the company complete access to users’ devices.
The article highlights that Riot Games is owned by Tencent, a Chinese tech giant that has been involved in censorship and surveillance activities in China. This raises concerns that Vanguard could potentially be used for similar purposes, such as monitoring players’ activity and restricting free speech in-game.
Ultimately, the decision to install Vanguard rests with players, but the article urges caution and encourages players to consider the potential risks and implications before doing so.
If the group doing the spying is ideologically in the same “tribe”, people don’t seem concerned. It’s both a survival mechanism and our Achilles heel.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, and all that.
For me it’s the opposite, they are so far away from me I couldn’t care less what Xiaomi does with my info.
In the case of rootkits, your “info” could include anything. Keylogging your passwords and financial data, compromising your machine as part of a botnet…
The worst part is that it doesn’t even have to be the original installer. If this malware turns out to have an exploit, your computer could be botted and sold to the highest bidder.
The only person with kernel-level access to a computer should be the owner.
Agreed. China isn’t going to put together a bogus profile based on poorly researched correlations and throw me on a list with no ability to defend or appeal the decision. And if they do–who cares? I’m never going to China.
This makes more logical sense however most people see foreign as worse than local but controlling.