Hacker Shows Vulnerabilities In ‘The Conduit’ Online Code

Before getting into the meat of this story, let’s make one thing clear. There’s a difference between hackers and cheaters when it comes to video games, and just anything general. The word ‘hacker’ many times has some unfair connotations attached to it. What people should understand is that a hacker isn’t necessarily doing anything wrong when he takes advantage of a system, or code. He’s just discovering its vulnerabilities, it’s the cheaters (a.k.a losers) that take advantage of the vulnerabilities that ruin it for everyone.

I honestly think that people who cheat online in a video game are the lowest of the low. I think it’s more sad to see someone cheat online in a video game than it is to see a fanboy go on a tirade. The question to ask is, ‘How do we stop the cheaters?’

The first step is to start listening to guys like hetoan2, who is a renowned hacker of the Nintendo Wii. He has his own site where he discovers ways to manipulate code in video games. It’s actually very interesting, and there are some pretty cool hacks if you’re into that sort of thing.

Recently, he was interviewed by TheWiire and hetoan2 provides interesting insight into the world of hacking. The discussion is specifically about The Conduit, and here was my favorite back and forth discussion on the matter,

The Wiire: First, how did you discover these loopholes in the game? How easy was it to modify the game?

hetoan2: I discovered these loopholes in the game by using a device to dump the data from the wii, remote debugger, and GeckoOS (a homebrew program) to search and create the codes. The process is simple really, just using a bunch of searches on changes on in-game variables, and once you find where they’re stored you can rewrite the code to make it do what you want, or you can write your own code to make it do what you want.

It isn’t that simple with every game, as he notes, “sometimes you can’t write your own code,” with the important qualifier, “but not for the Conduit.” This is where gamers have every right to be nervous about how the game was developed.

hetoan2: Everything is virtually unprotected. All values can be edited fairly easily, and there’s virtually no sign of an attempt at hiding values, fixing bugs, or preventing online hackers. The online codes are identical to the offline versions because the offline game is the same as the online version. The only difference is in the online mode the game sends the variables in real-time to their server. Keep in mind that there are NO server checks. (If the value instantly changes abnormally, usually the server will boot you from the game or make you desync from the other players.)

What’s funny is that hetoan2 doesn’t like cheaters, and proved so by releasing codes initially that would brick save files if the codes he provided were used online. So, why does he hack then?

He doesn’t specifically say in the interview but hackers I know do what they do to push systems to their limits. Which is an honorable pursuit really. Game developers should start being more careful with their code and finding better ways to protect it. Until someone shows them how vulnerable they really are, why would they take the extra time to implement more safeguards?

What are you thoughts on hackers? Are you an online cheater, and would like to confess now? You know it must be weighing on your conscious.