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This is an English version of
our report about the new servertool BF2ahd. Swaths of the text were translated
by team 2F4Y. As yet the introduction and some other parts aren't translated
but the main interviews are completely done. We'll try to complete the missing
parts as soon as possible. Since this is an issue of general interest for all players of the battlefield series feel free to copy and publish this news at your own website.
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Auf dem Schlachtfeld tobt seit langem ein Krieg. Und damit ist nicht der
Kampf der Armeen auf den Karten von Battlefield 2 und Battlefield 2142 gemeint,
sondern der von Cheatern und Hackern gegen Betreiber und Spieler auf den
Servern. Dieser Konflikt wird von den Spielern hinter den Kulissen ausgetragen,
doch an Heftigkeit mangelt es ihm nicht. Täglich regnen UAV-Drohnen
und Jeeps vom Himmel und täglich schmieren Server ab. Damit soll nun
Schluss sein. Noch bevor DICE und EA ihren Patch veröffentlichen, hat
eine Gruppe von Spielern ein eigenes Tool entwickelt: den Battlefield 2
anti-hack-daemon (BF2ahd).
Bei i3D im Testbetrieb
Umgesetzt wurde der Daemon durch den Clan 2 Fast 4 You (2F4Y), die einen
der populärsten Server für Battlefield 2 stellen. Eingesetzt wird
BF2ahd jedoch nicht nur auf ihren eigenen Servern, sondern auch auf Maschinen
des holländischen Ranked-Service-Providers i3D. Zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt
also ein größerer Feldversuch, der bisher nur auf Linux-Rechnern
einsetzbar ist. Aber ein funktionierender. Wir haben Quellen aus der Cheater-Szene
kontaktiert, die uns von ihren Erfahrungen mit BF2ahd berichteten. Wir haben
die Entwickler von 2F4Y kontaktiert und ihnen Fragen gestellt und zuletzt
haben wir DICE gefragt, was sie davon halten.
-=Punkbuster=-: How was the idea for BF2ahd born and how long has
it been under
development?
BF2ahd Dev Team:
2F4Y.com is hosting one of the most popular (if not the most popular)
Battlefield 2® Ranked Server of the world since 2006. With the continuously
growing number of players the number of Aimbot/No-Fog/etc. attacks increased
as well. Originally we did not devote so much attention to that problem
since Aimbots neither have been anything new nor a big threat to our servers
- and finally it was PunkBuster's job to keep hackers off.
With the vehicle drop ability delivered in patch 1.3 we became aware of
the fact that our servers' stability can be heavily affected by vehicle
spams and commander hacks. After that exploit hasn't been fixed in the following
patches we tried to protect our servers against such crashes in mid 2007.
But we quickly reached the limit since any modification of the ranked server
software is prohibited by the ROE of EA/DICE. The result was rcon based
modules which were able to identify the attacker on one hand but could not
avoid the hacks on the other hand.
In the end of 2007 the number of available hacks being able to crash or
completely empty a Battlefield 2 server in any way was vast but there wasn't
any announcement of an upcoming patch from EA's or DICE's side. It became
ordinary that Battlefield 2 servers were daily subjected - in the rush hours
even hourly - to vehicle spams or crash to desktop attacks. So in August
2008 the idea of BF2ahd was literally born as an act of self-defence. Basically
the attacks should be identified and warded off before their impact on the
server. That's why BF2ahd can be seen as a firewall for Battlefield 2 servers.
After the conception our ranked server provider i3D.net was informed about
the details. i3d.net immediately realized the potential of our software,
offered us cooperation and began supporting us intensively through the stages
of implementation and testing. The first executable version was released
in November 2008. The beta tests were finished in mid-December and as the
first BF2ahd-licensed RSP our partner i3D.net offered an installation of
our software for their customers in the end of December 2008.
-=Punkbuster=-: How many customers actually using BF2ahd?
i3D Ramon: i3D.net is currently the only RSP offering their customers
BF2ahd on their servers. Currently roughly 20 servers are running and helping
with testing BF2ahd. We expect more servers to follow once we start posting
some from our initial 2-3 months of testing with the software. Most people
are currently waiting for the 1.5 patch and are hoping that this will fix
the issues that BF2ahd fixes as well.
-=Punkbuster=-: Are there any signs like the servername or server
variables to detect if BF2ahd is running on a server?
BF2ahd Dev Team:
Since BF2ahd has no direct access to the Battlefield 2 server application
there is no indicator if the server is BF2ahd-protected or not. Merely a
recurrent in-game server message shows that BF2ahd is running on the server
- Ramon completes here: A "standard" indication in the server
name might be an option further down the line
-=Punkbuster=-: BF2ahd points in the same direction that patch 1.5
for BF2 is intended. Have you been in contact with DICE or EA about your
tool and - if not - are you planning to contact them in the future?
BF2ahd Dev Team:
When the announcement of the bug fixes in patch 1.5 was made the
development was in full progress. The question why we continued the implementation
of BF2ahd can be answered quite easily:
At first patch announcements are always something relative and speculative.
On one hand there is no concrete release date of the patch and on the other
hand closing security exploits does not avoid new ones. Furthermore we already
knew that the BF2ahd-builtin detection algorithms worked and that we were
able to block attacks based on existing exploits. We also wanted to keep
the option to react fast on eventually newly appearing exploits.
However we are confident that patch 1.5 will consist of all announced changes
and close all confirmed exploits we still can react on new problems immediately.
BF2ahd would then act in a supporting way until a further official patch
would arrive. Contact by or to EA/DICE hasn't been necessary until today.
Despite we don't want to eliminate a future cooperation.
-=Punkbuster=-: Is there any chance for other RSPs to distribute
BF2ahd as a license partner?
BF2ahd Dev Team:
Of course! Basically every EA Trusted Partner RSP can acquire a BF2ahd-license
to protect their customers' servers. However we get many requests as well
as constantly positive feedback still some providers react quite conservative
on the question of licensing BF2ahd - they have the opinion that it is not
the job of the server provider but the job of the game creator to fix exploits.
The last decision about the deployment of BF2ahd is probably made by the
customer.
It was the same at i3D.net. It's given as an option to customers. Those
that don't want third party software running with their server won't have
to. A lot of people are still skeptical, they're not sure if it really works
and most people want to wait for the new patch and see how much this fixes.
-=Punkbuster=-: Aren't you afraid that hackers will rent a server
to gain access to BF2ahd and find a way to manipulate it?
BF2ahd Dev Team:
Well, we are also aware of the fact that there will always be a race
between those who use exploits and those who fix them. We consider this
as normal and it's nothing we must fear. The customer has no access to the
files of a ranked server and since BF2ahd is independent from the Battlefield
2 server software customers will have no access to BF2ahd as well.
-=Punkbuster=-: As we heard in the past the new patch for Battlefield
2 is designed to assure a better protection against cheaters and hackers.
The new tool "BF2AHD" from id3 seems to point in the same direction.
Have you been involved in the development or had any contact with the devs
so far?
Hack-Nutzer bestätigt Wirksamkeit
Soweit zu BF2ahd selbst, aber funktioniert es auch wirklich? Ja, das tut
es und bestätigt werden uns diese Aussagen von Kontaktleuten aus
der Hacker-Szene, die erste Erfahrungen mit dem Tool gesammelt haben.
Unsere Quelle schildert uns den Ablauf wie folgt: "Ich war gestern
sogar zufällig auf einem Server die das eingebaut hatten. Funktionieren
tut es zurzeit noch sehr gut. Ein Kollege von mir hat versucht ein Fahrzeug
zu spawnen doch das hat nicht geklappt. Er hat einfach einen disconnect
bekommen und konnte danach auch erstmal nicht auf diesen Server joinen.
Wielange es dauern wird bis das ganze umgangen wird kann ich nicht sagen.
Kommt immer auf die Coder an. Wenn der BF2 Patch kommt sind solche Crashes
sowieso Geschichte. Das ist zurzeit eh nur Geldmacherei."
Im Gespräch mit DICE
Angesichts solcher Aussagen hat es uns natürlich brennend interessiert,
was die Macher von DICE von BF2ahd halten. Wir haben eine Mail abgeschickt
und Associate Producer Barrie Tingle hat unsere Fragen beantwortet.
Barrie Tingle: The tool is only available for Linux machines and
there has been no collaboration between DICE and the group that made the
tool. We do know what the tool does to prevent hacks and it is not the
same system we have implemented into our new updates
-=Punkbuster=-: The functions of the tool sound really cool: no
more commander hacks, no more fake names, and no more server crashes.
Could you imagine to make this a tool for any RSP worldwide if it really
works. By buying the whole technology for example like it was done with
Battlecraft in the past?
Barrie Tingle: The tool is making use of Linux features (which
is why a Windows version does not exist) to detect the hacks and stop
their use. We have no plans to make such a tool ourselves and instead
will work to prevent hacks being used from within the game itself.
Spieler müssen Druck machen
Eine Zusammenarbeit mit den Spielentwicklern aus Schweden ist also eher
unwahrscheinlich und dennoch stehen die Chancen für Spieler nicht
schlecht. Mieter von Ranked-Servern können ihre Anbieter auf BF2ahd
hinweisen und Druck machen, die Technik zu übernehmen. Der von Tingle
angesprochene Punkt mit dem Windows Server soll laut Rücksprache
mit 2F4Y bald behoben sein. Die Portierung auf Windows stellt laut den
Entwicklern kein Problem dar und eine solche Version ist bereits in Entwicklung.
Ein konkretes Erscheinungsdatum gibt es jedoch noch nicht. Ansonsten gibt
es viel Verständnis für die Aussagen Tingles. "Wir können
Barrie Tingle eigentlich nur zustimmen. DICE ist der Spielehersteller
und hat demnach die Möglichkeit Bugs direkt im Quellcode des Spiels
zu beheben. Der einzige Nachteil hierbei ist die Reaktionszeit in welcher
dies geschehen kann, da DICE wohl nicht für jeden separaten Bugfix
einen neuen Patch releasen wird.". Und da die Verkäufer von
Cheats und Hacks bekanntlich schnell reagieren, wird der Anti-Hack-Daemon
wohl auch zukünftig zum Einsatz kommen.
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