Addressing Network Packet-based Cheats in Multiplayer Games: A Secret Sharing Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces a secret sharing-based method to detect network packet cheats in multiplayer games, verified formally and tested through simulations, improving game security against forgery and timing attacks.

Contribution

It presents a novel secret sharing protocol for cheat detection in multiplayer games, with formal verification and practical simulation results demonstrating effectiveness.

Findings

Protocols are formally verified using AVISPA.

Simulation results show practical effectiveness against common cheats.

The approach addresses forgery and timing attack vulnerabilities.

Abstract

Multiplayer online gaming has witnessed an explosion in popularity over the past two decades. However, security issues continue to give rise to in-game cheating, deterring honest gameplay, detracting from user experience, and ultimately bringing financial harm to game developers. In this paper, we present a new approach for detecting network packet-based cheats, such as forgery and timing cheats, within the context of multiplayer games using an application of secret sharing. Our developed protocols are subjected to formal verification using AVISPA, and we present simulation results using a Python-based implementation. We show that our proposal is practical in addressing some widely used attacks in online gaming.