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NProtect GameGuard

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nProtect GameGuard
Developer(s)INCA Internet Co., Ltd.
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
Available inC++
TypeAnti-cheating
LicenseProprietary
Websitegameguard.nprotect.com

nProtect GameGuard (sometimes called GG) is an anti-cheating application developed by INCA Internet. It is bundled with many multiplayer online games such as Phantasy Star Universe, MapleStory, Gunbound, GunZ: The Duel, Sudden Attack, FlyFF, Ragnarok Online, and 9dragons to block malicious applications and common methods of cheating. nProtect GameGuard provides B2B2C security services for online game companies and portal sites and current holds 90% of the global game security marketshare. nProtect GameGuard possesses database on game hacks based on security references from more than 260 game clients. More than 100 million users connect to nProtect GameGuard daily through more than 300 games. Some editions of GameGuard are now bundled with INCA Internet's Tachyon anti-virus/anti-spyware library, and others with nProtect KeyCrypt, an anti-keylogger software that protects the keyboard input information. nProtect GameGuard hides the game application process, monitors the entire memory range, terminates applications defined by the game vendor and INCA_Internet to be cheats, blocks certain calls to DirectX functions and Windows APIs, and auto-updates itself to change as new threats surface. nProtect GameGuard is launched via GameMon.des with a driver dump_wmimmc.sys.

Features

File:GameGuard Splash NF.jpg
Splash shown during nProtect GameGuard execution

nProtect GameGuard Basic

  • Hacking Tool and Virus Diagnosis and Blockage
  • Auto-mouse & Macro Blockage
  • Memory Debugging Prevention

nProtect GameGuard Pro

  • Real-time Server Authentication
  • Game Client Encryption Tool
  • End-user Support

nProtect GameGuard SE

  • Public Key Based Packet Encryption Service
  • Proxy Server Blockage
  • Collect and Receive Report on Hacking Attempts through Log-server

System Requirements

Operating System Processor (CPU) RAM First library drive
Requirements Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista Intel Pentium 133MHz or higher (or equivalent) 32 MB Minimum 1.2M Maximum

Known games running GameGuard

Known blocked applications

  • Logitech G-series Keyboard Profiler (Profiler is required to use G-keys and any features) This software is no longer blocked.
  • Ollydbg
  • Almost all VNC servers, such as RealVNC (does not block or shut down, but disables input)
  • Cheat Engine - Some strings and blocks of codes are detected, up to a buffer size of 512, so the names of some things can be changed to evade detection. Usually referred to as "Undetected Cheat Engine" (UCE) when it is not detected by nProtect GameGuard.
  • The Core Media Player
  • WhatPulse
  • Outpost Firewall Pro
  • Process Explorer
  • Xpadder
  • WPE Pro
  • Tsearch
  • Steam (content delivery) - Launching game through Steam, GameGuard reports Steam as a "Game Hack" and shuts down the game)
  • Motherboard Monitor - (Reason unknown) Causes the software to crash
  • SpeedFan - (Reason unknown) Core2 sensors report -27 degrees Celsius, Voltage and RPM drop to 0 when game is launched
  • Filezilla - (Reason unknown) Causes the software to crash
  • Eclipse - Does not start while GameGuard is running; works if it is already running on GameGuard initialization
  • Zboard
  • NetLimiter - Detected as a game hack, even if you stop the service and kill the process
  • cFosSpeed - Detected as a game hack if "Traffic Shaping" is turned on
  • Freenet - Closes Freenet node without warning.
  • EZ Macros - Reports as a "Game Hack"
  • AutoHotkey - (Created hotkeys do not work)
  • Razer - Mouse drivers (mouse buttons mapped to keys will not function, scrollwheel ceases to function)
  • ATI Tray Tools
  • AVG Anti-Virus - Making many of the tray tool components report error.
  • TokyoShot Screenshotter - (Reason unknown) Making it impossible to use the mouse for captures
  • Mal Updater - (Reason unknown) Makes the software freeze and impossible to use
  • Media Player Classic - Media doesn't play correctly and ends up crashing

Issues with GameGuard

GameGuard is known to crash when Panda Antivirus is installed. After turning the protection off, the GameGuard is able to start, but you risk your security (this has been noticed with Lineage II)

Because of its method of actuation (similar to a rootkit), it is criticized for being too invasive. The software installs a device driver and offers no way to uninstall it; even uninstalling the game will still leave some files hidden on the system. In recent versions (revision 1007 and up), GameGuard fails to halt when the game ends, so GameGuard continues to use resources and inject code into processes. This is usually not noticeable to the end-user, as GameGuard masks its intense CPU usage by hooking Windows system querying APIs. Most anti-virus vendors exclude nProtect GameGuard from their detection databases due to it being commercial software.

GameGuard is sometimes cited by users of a specific game as unusable because of numerous errors when attempting to run a game, including the infamous "Error 114," which details that the device driver dump_wmimmc.sys has failed to load, thus not allowing GameMon.des to fully initialize.

It has been said that GameGuard can still be compromised by using modified game client files, modified versions of Cheat Engine coupled with server emulation utilities. On some games such as MapleStory, the game itself does a hash check of the GameGuard revision currently running and will exit if it does not match the hash on the server side.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "partner.htm" (htm). INCA Internet Co., Ltd. Retrieved 27 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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