Valeroa Anti-Tamper Tech Tries To Protect Initial Sales, "Cannot Be Cracked Within Reasonable Time"

[bug]

Anything that intentionally prohibits you from using software is DRM. "Anti-tamper" = "anti-mod" = "digital rights management" because the software is denying you the right to modify.

I'm still not convinced Valero is going to last longer than a few days after crackers take a look at it. Valero basically just put an invite out there for warez groups to tear in to it. They be like:

You're right. There's this little thing that anti-temper doesn't actually prevent you from using software, it only prevents you from, you know, modifying it, but other than that, you're spot on.

 

[Vayra86]

I find it interesting that a game like City Patrol: Police is the first with it. It's a cheap, early access game with virtually no sales; ergo, Valeroa must be cheap too, like really cheap ($10s, 100s, or 1000s, not $100,000s like Denuvo).



Fun fact: Steam games are usually only "protected" by doing a simple "does Steam work? if true continue else Exit()." Sounds like all Valeroa does is dig deeper into Steam to verify you're licensed to play the game.

I don't understand how they think it's going to be difficult to crack nor the logic behind making it easier to crack over time. DRM always comes down to a decryption key or a Boolean value. Once they figure out how to obtain the decryption key or which Boolean to flip, the game runs.

The most difficult games to crack literally hid DRM checks in map levels. If they don't find and modify them all, the game will crash when it hits one. That makes cracking the game very resource intensive.

Exactly, it supports my story above your post. This is a poor man's Denuvo

 

[FordGT90Concept]

There's this little thing that anti-temper doesn't actually prevent you from using software...

You're assuming Valeroa will still function on 100% of systems, 100% of the time, forever. It won't because the universe, as we know it, loves Murphy's Law. It's DRM: third party code with the explicit purpose of preventing exercise of consumer rights (software modification falls under "right to repair").

 

[newtekie1]

You're right. There's this little thing that anti-temper doesn't actually prevent you from using software, it only prevents you from, you know, modifying it, but other than that, you're spot on.

Except it does. When it detects tampering it either prevents you from playing the game, or it prevents you from progressing in the game. There have been methods like this in the past. Batman Arkham Asylum use a method like this, IIRC. There was part that required you to glide across an area to progress in the game. If the game detected tampering, it wouldn't let you glide across, you would fall right after take-off.

In these cases, these "anti-tamper" DRMs just monitor the primary form of DRM, they are a secondary layer of DRM. If the primary DRM is tampered with, then these secondary anti-tamper DRMs kick in. In the case of Cities Patrol, for exmaple, Valeroa is making sure the traditional Steam DRM is not tampered with. And that is the typical use case of these anti-tamper forms of DRM.

 

[eidairaman1]

Hold my beer comes to mind

 

[bug]

Except it does. When it detects tampering it either prevents you from playing the game, or it prevents you from progressing in the game. There have been methods like this in the past. Batman Arkham Asylum use a method like this, IIRC. There was part that required you to glide across an area to progress in the game. If the game detected tampering, it wouldn't let you glide across, you would fall right after take-off.

Bla, bla, bla. HL2 was the first to do this and everyone enjoyed that game. But that's off topic.

In these cases, these "anti-tamper" DRMs just monitor the primary form of DRM, they are a secondary layer of DRM. If the primary DRM is tampered with, then these secondary anti-tamper DRMs kick in. In the case of Cities Patrol, for exmaple, Valeroa is making sure the traditional Steam DRM is not tampered with. And that is the typical use case of these anti-tamper forms of DRM.

This is what I was talking about. By the sounds of it this what we're looking at, but it's not confirmed. If that's true, this is no more DRM than a door stop is a door. They both just hold things in place.
Your blind hate towards DRM may make you think this is also DRM, but it is not. And this is coming from a guy that doesn't have a Steam account because (among other reasons) I think Steam is too much DRM.

 

[newtekie1]

This is what I was talking about. By the sounds of it this what we're looking at, but it's not confirmed. If that's true, this is no more DRM than a door stop is a door. They both just hold things in place.
Your blind hate towards DRM may make you think this is also DRM, but it is not. And this is coming from a guy that doesn't have a Steam account because (among other reasons) I think Steam is too much DRM.

DRM that monitors for the tampering of the other DRM is still DRM. And, yes, this is confirmed as to how Valeroa works. Patrol Cities is protected by Steam DRM, Valeroa will kick in if the Steam DRM is tampered with. The entire point of Valeroa is to detect tampering with the Steam DRM. So it is DRM.

And, now, I never said it was bad or that DRM is bad. I really don't care about DRM, and I accept that it is a necessary thing, and I'm not against it at all as long as it doesn't go too far. Valeroa is perfectly fine in my book, but it is still a form of DRM. My only issue with it is the creators saying it isn't something that it is.

Using the door example, Valeroa is just a second door that closes when the first door is messed with in any way, but it's still a door.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Anything that tries to manage who can and can't access digital content is DRM, period. This is an effort to manage who can play games, which are digital content, hence it is DRM.



Pretty much. The basic steam DRM just does a check to see if Steam is running and if the user account logged into steam is supposed to have access to the game. That is why it is so easy to bypass by crackers.

Heck, in the early day of Steam, the cracks for games just modified the offline games list of the Steam client itself. So you started Steam, put it in offline mode, and ran the crack and it would add the game as playable under your account. Obviously you'd also have to put the game files in the right place for Steam to access them. You could play the game as long as you didn't switch back to online mode, at which point your game list would sync with Steam and the cracked game would disappear from your game list. But Valve caught on pretty quick to that and started handing out account bans to people that would consistently have games in their offline cache game list that they weren't supposed to have.

I remember the days when you could play quite a lot of your purchased games offline. L4D being one of them. I cant believe that i used to play that game offline by myself sometimes. It was so much better with other players.

 

[Gorstak]

All that is digital can be cracked. I assume once they figure out how, the time period required for cracking will shorten drastically...

 

[Easy Rhino]

A lot of people don't seem to have a basic understanding of what this tech does. Lots of comments though...

 

[bug]

Using the door example, Valeroa is just a second door that closes when the first door is messed with in any way, but it's still a door.

No, it isn't. In the absence of DRM, Valeroa by itself wouldn't stop you from playing.

 

[newtekie1]

No, it isn't. In the absence of DRM, Valeroa by itself wouldn't stop you from playing.

Correct, that doesn't make Valeroa not DRM. It is still DRM, it is still put in place with the primary purpose of ensuring only people who purchase the game can play it. Just because other DRM also has to be used in conjunction doesn't mean Valeroa isn't DRM itself. It is the second level of DRM to protect against the first level's failure.

 

[bug]

Correct, that doesn't make Valeroa not DRM. It is still DRM, it is still put in place with the primary purpose of ensuring only people who purchase the game can play it. Just because other DRM also has to be used in conjunction doesn't mean Valeroa isn't DRM itself. It is the second level of DRM to protect against the first level's failure.

Jesus, drop it already.

 

[newtekie1]

Jesus, drop it already.

The words of someone who knows they're wrong. Time to move on.

 

[bug]

The words of someone who knows they're wrong. Time to move on.

You probably don't realize you haven't shown how this is DRM. So agreed, let's move on.

 

[newtekie1]

You probably don't realize you haven't shown how this is DRM. So agreed, let's move on.

Sure I have, over and over again.

But I'll do it this way. The one game that Valeroa is currently used on is City Patrol: Police. So answer me the following questions about this game:

1. What was the purpose of putting it in the game?(Hint: The answer is in the first post.)
2. If a cracker tried to remove or bypass the Steam DRM that is included in City Patrol: Police, what happens?(Hint: I've already answered this.)

The correct answers to those two questions shows that Valeroa is DRM. Move on, you know you're wrong here.

 

[Readlight]

I will continue to enjoy free Steam multiplayer games, when I haw internet, they get all the time updated (those who work on my hardware).
Perhaps that takes me to look at other great deals. off course when new Redstone comes to need to reinstall and these single player games don't work.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Computer Forensics: Investigating Network Intrusions and Cyber Crime, Volume 4

Digital rights management (DRM) is access-control technology used by manufacturers, publishers, and copyright holders to limit the usage of digital devices or information. It describes the technology that prevents unauthorized distribution and usage of content, media, or devices.

Valeroa is not much different from USB keys to authenticate software except that the key is another form of DRM: a layered (onion-like) approach to DRM instead of conventional authentication system approach.

FYI, John Deere computer-based equipment has DRM identical to Valeroa. It checks the serial in every part connected to its network and if that serial number doesn't match the serial number in the main computer, it will refuse to network with it. This is to force people to go to authorized John Deere service centers where they have the software necessary to update the main computer. It's anti-tamper DRM like Valeroa. Still very DRM because it's constraining access: anti-consumer.

 

[psohiana]

im just leave this at here

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2. ÛÝ ÞÛ
3. Û² ²Û
4. City Patrol: Police 1.0
6. Release Date .....: 01/12/2018
7. Cracker ..........: Steam006
8. Protection .......: Steam + Valeroa
10. Û²° °²Û
11. ÛÛ²±°ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ Summary ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ°±²ÛÛ
13. City Patrol: Police — Combatting Crime!

 

[Rajatrjb]

Say hi to steam006, Valeroa. They said it took just 20 minutes to crack City police: patrol.

 

[Gorstak]

damn nfo is still required?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

City Patrol: Police — Combatting Crime!

The irony there is hilarious.

Say hi to steam006, Valeroa. They said it took just 20 minutes to crack City police: patrol.

steam006 be like:

About what I figured.

 

[Gorstak]

I feel for valeroa...I just had my browsers windows move up and down by itself....did a reinstall out of precaution and put henry++ firewall to work...we'll see how it goes now...

 

[newtekie1]

FYI, John Deere computer-based equipment has DRM identical to Valeroa. It checks the serial in every part connected to its network and if that serial number doesn't match the serial number in the main computer, it will refuse to network with it. This is to force people to go to authorized John Deere service centers where they have the software necessary to update the main computer. It's anti-tamper DRM like Valeroa. Still very DRM because it's constraining access: anti-consumer.

It's not just John Deer, car manufacturers have been doing this for decades. The car manufactures even go as far as checking the keys, so you have to have an expensive programmer just to make a new key for the car, or pay the dealer like $300 a key. At least John Deer still uses the same key for literally everything they sell! So any John Deer key will start any John Deer equipment.

 

[Gorstak]

I sympathise with john deere and car manufacturers aswell...I love all opressed peeps....