March 18 2024, 08:06 PT: Easy Anti-Cheat, the security system that tackles cheaters in Apex, has responded to allegations that it doesn’t prevent RCE hacks.
Midway through the Apex Legends ALGS finals in North America, it appears that several players have been hacked mid-match, leading to the match being “postponed” due to the “competitive integrity of this series being compromised.”
As someone who has been watching esports for a very long time, I have never seen anything quite like this. I’ve seen bizarre pentakills in League of Legends, wild headshots in Valorant, but what I didn’t expect was to watch some of Apex Legends‘ best and brightest get hacked midway through the battle royale game‘s biggest tournament.
Midway through their match on Storm Point, TSM’s Phillip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen and DarkZero’s Noyan ‘Genburten’ Ozkose were both hit by what appears to be an RCE hack, meaning that the bad actor could, in theory, manipulate elements of their games.
As a result, both players had their cheats toggled on instead of off, hence Hal’s “I’ve got an aimbot.”Additionally, as the hack went through, a bizarre message seems to have popped up on Genburten’s screen, showing that cheats were, in fact, switched on mid-match.
As a result, Respawn terminated the match, officially stating that “due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time.
We will share more information soon.”
Following this announcement, Easy Anti-Cheat has responded publicly to concerns regarding issues with RCE exploits. “We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue within Easy Anti-Cheat.
“At this time – we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed.” While it doesn’t directly reference the ALGS, Easy Anti-Cheat is Apex’s security system, so the timing feels a little too close to be coincidental.
It’s no secret that Apex has been suffering from cheaters lately, with recent Steam reviews coming in at ‘mixed’ despite the game sitting at ‘mostly positive’ overall. “It shouldn’t have even got to this point. It’s pathetic,” writes one angry fan, while another asks competitor Riot Games to “please sell these guys Vanguard so they can get their shit together.”
In the meantime, we have a list of all the best FPS games if it’s that competitive adrenaline that gets you going, as well as a rundown of the best multiplayer games for you and your squad.
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