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PvP.net hacked; League of Legends Unsafe

Posted on Jul 5, 2011 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

At this time I am reporting that League of Legends’ PvP.net client was hacked.

Although some believe it to be a simple DDoS attack (crashing the servers), many players have experienced spam messages from the culprits within the game client.

As I report this, the PvP.net chat system has been brought down. Riot has yet to comment whether they are even responsible for its downtime, but one would guess it to be the case since messages included links which directed to various unsafe websites.

Some speculate that this is another lulzsec hacking, while others point out the mention of ‘NoS’ (a brazilian hacking group, if I remember right) in the spam messages. In my opinion, it is probably some random messing around while hacking is ‘the in thing to do’. Hell, it might even be a script-kiddy (or ‘skiddy’, a pseudo-hacker who uses tools and programs a real hacker created to mimic them); there’s a fair amount of resources floating around on the internet right now.

Many of Riot Games’ clients are worried and paranoid thanks to several of the messages mentioning (in an almost cryptic fashion) that an excess of people have been exposed to keyloggers.

One of the more interesting side-effects can be found on the League of Legends 5×5 rankings page. I do not recommend going to Riot’s website for the time being, but I did so myself out of suspicion and grabbed you all a screenshot of my discovery:

Oh aren't you just the special children!

It wasn’t hard to guess that they would hit the site rankings after considering past hacks against gaming websites. Hopefully very few others thought to check this page and, again, hopefully it’s clean.

Luckily this is occurring on the afternoon of the 4th of July for American clients, so at least they are guaranteed to have a better use for their time.

I will edit this article as/if the story develops, but for the time being I recommend that all League of Legends gamers avoid the Riot Games website and game client for at least a few hours.

Update 1: It seems that Riot was responsible for bringing down PvP.net.

“Summoners! We’ve had to temporarily disable our chat system due to technical difficulties. This means you can currently not see the online status of your friends, talk to them, or queue up with them. We realize how disruptive this is and we do apologize. We’ll have the chat system back up as soon as possible.” ZenonTheStoic

It’s difficult to manoeuvre around the Riot Games’ site at the moment. This announcement wasn’t even linked in the forums or on the main page, I had to stumble across it. Either the site has been hit decently or their offices are in a bit of disarray.

Update 2: Somebody using the handle ‘Neonir’, seemingly stolen from an already existing member of the League of Legends community, has claimed a level of responsibility for the hacking.

Attempts have been made by this person to market the tools used, but capable individuals have pointed out that the program was probably created by somebody else. It’s currently assumed that the individual is using a RAT (Remote Administration Tool) and is using keyloggers to grant himself access to victims’ computers.

Update 3: A posting by Pendragon

“Summoners!
As you are aware we recently had issues with our chat services. Rest assured that we have no reason to believe any billing information has been compromised. Any impacted accounts will be fully restored.
Please always exercise caution when visiting any third party websites.
We will keep you updated with additional information as it becomes available” -Pendragon

Final Word: If you didn’t access any websites linked to you through either PvP.net or the Riot Games website, you should be fine. If you are suspicious, run a scan using an anti-malware program to hunt down any threats.

There are 3 programs which I recommend: Malwarebytes, Spybot Search & Destroy and AVG AntiVirus. One of any of those 3 should do the job, though I encourage you to use anti-virus software at all times. If they come up clean and you are completely convinced that you have been hacked, turn off your internet connection and wait out a few days to discourage RAT access, update your scanners’ definitions and scan again.

PvP.net hacked; League of Legends Unsafe

Connection… Problem?

Posted on May 9, 2011 in Action, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Everything went better than expected.

All 4 of my teammates connected within 3 minutes in and we won the game… but it was was one of those moments.

Connection… Problem?

Hook, Line and Sinker: What Makes a Classic Game

Posted on May 8, 2011 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Boredom begets nostalgia; that moment where you’ve jumped into your desktop chair or kneeled in front of your array of console titles, but then you’re at a loss as to what exactly you want to play.

The stagnancy of development within the video-games industry [Gimmick Games article] happens to be a leading cause of this ‘problem’; it’s so rare to come across a game that satisfies. Sure, you can find a title that will spectacularly entertain you for a few afternoons, but afterwards you are often left with no reason to come back to it.

Enter through the parados thou players of old, and cradle thy controls and keyboards for revisited memories!

The classic game Syndicate, from Bullfrog. They also produced the popular Theme Park franchise.

Where would we be without the gems? Those games with enough variety and soul that they can be picked up and played again and again!

I really hadn’t given it much thought; I buy 4-5 new games a month. Truth be told, I wasn’t completely aware of just how much I had been neglecting the new releases, at least until my friend Pete asked me “So, what new games have you gotten into lately?”

Reflecting upon my past week, here are the games I’ve played for 2 hours or more:

5 Hours – Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)
4 Hours – League of Legends (2009, regularly updated)
3 Hours – Neverwinter Nights 2 (Platinum) (2006)
2 Hours – Global Agenda (2010)
2 Hours – Darksiders (2010)

I began to answer him, then stopped in consideration. What new games? None. I hadn’t played any new releases in the past 5 days. In fact, most of the new releases I’ve bought this year have been played for under 2 hours, then dropped into a shortcuts folder or put away on a bookcase ‘for later’.

“I guess I’ve just been going back to the classics lately.” I replied. He nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, that’s how it is nowadays.”

There are many other games I tend to fall back to for some guaranteed fun. What was it that made these games special?

Gameplay. The game has to be enjoyable, and in almost every case it has to have some damned difficulty. There’s no feeling of accomplishment when a game handholds you through to the end. At this point, I even give points for steady difficulty curves, even if the final hours of a game end up being a minor challenge at best.

Re-playability. ‘Tactics’ is a great example. Nearly endless customization and advancement paths combined with the satisfaction of executing a vast array of different strategies. You can literally play Tactics through a dozen times and still experience it differently. The same can be said about League of Legends, NWN2 and Global Agenda (mostly due to GA’s multiplayer elements). Even Darksiders allows you to use its Soul currency to purchase different attacks or weaponry, increasing its replay value.

An enjoyable story is another key element often underdeveloped in new games. A great plot can be the difference, even if its impact on the game’s structure is subtle; just look at games like Mass Effect (more direct) or Half-Life (silent protagonist). Even Red Alert 2 with its cheesy, ham-handed acting seems witty and immersive compared to the new releases this year.

When you combine challenging gameplay (the hook, catching your attention), re-playability (the line, pulling you back in) and an entertaining story (the sinker, keeping you immersed and interested) or even just implement 2 of these elements competently, you end up with a potential classic…

…and true classics never die.

Hook, Line and Sinker: What Makes a Classic Game