Exploiting Online Games: Cheating Massively Distributed Systems By Greg Hoglund and Gary McGraw

Software Security Series

Book Available Mid-July 2007

 

We at PCN were fortunate enough to be sent the latest book in the Software Security Series from Greg Hoglund and Gary McGraw.  The name of the book is Exploiting Online Games: Cheating massively Distributed Systems.  Usually we are not prone to do book reviews but with something like this an exception had to be made for our reader’s sake and it was the correct decision.  To be quite honest this is one of the most enjoyable gaming-related things I have ever had the privilege of reviewing, whether it be a game, movie, etc.

 

The common cliché with gamers out there is that in most cases, not all, but most cases, they are not all that prone to read a book for pleasure.  I am going to come out right now and state that I am one of those gamers who are not all that prone to read a book for pleasure.  It has to be something truly interesting and well-written in order for me to really get into it.  Also of course it has to be relative to gaming or technology in some sense as well.  If you fall in this category you may find just as I did that this book simply cannot be put down.

 

Exploiting Online Games is like the encyclopedia of cheating MMORPGs such as Warcraft.  If you are a novice or an expert hacker it really does not matter as you are going to find a lot of content in here which will truly get your mind going and may actually teach you a thing or two even if you already think that you know everything.  The book opens up with a terrific preface explaining why they are writing a book such as this, what is in the book, about the series, etc.  It sets things up nicely before leading into a talk about MMORPGs like World of Warcraft.

 

The great thing about Exploiting Online Games is that it truly can appeal to novices and experts.  Chapter 1 begins by stating why people may hack and cheat in online games.  It shows examples of World of Warcraft, Lineage II, the origins of hacking in games such as Counter-Strike, etc.  From there it begins to progress in a very interesting and educational manner by introducing ideas such as bots, farmers, etc.  If you do not know these terms then by the end of the book they will be second nature to you.

 

MMORPGs are big business there is no lie about it and there are a lot of people out there making a ton of money from them, as well as a lot of people getting in a lot of trouble trying to make a ton of money from them.  Once you begin to get into the dirty stuff of the book towards the latter half you will be ready to learn what these fine authors are going to be throwing at you.