Valve Catches and Bans Over 40,000 Dota 2 Cheaters Using a “Honeypot” Patch

ByWill Quick

Gaming is one of the most lucrative competitive worlds out there and as such, it is ripe with those who will cheat to win. Valve is no stranger to cheaters, but recently found a way to identify thousands of cheaters in Dota 2. By releasing a patch specifically tailored to track accounts using a certain exploit, Valve was able to catch them in the act and promptly ban them. As the digital world becomes more and more prominent, companies that rely on it will be taking stronger and more creative approaches to stop cheaters and hackers.

Valve Bans Thousands of Dota 2 Cheaters

Thanks to Valve, PC users have access to hundreds of thousands of games through the online platform Steam. Through the years, Dota 2 has remained one of its most popular titles. As such, it is also full of cheaters who use exploits in order to elevate their own accounts or lower others. Realizing how prominent the problem was, Valve set a trap to catch them.

As explained by the Verge, this was done through a special “honeypot” patch. Essentially, Valve intentionally made certain confidential account information visible only to those who were using a certain exploit. The patch identified the accounts, and Valve swooped in with the bans.

Though this was a successful operation, it highlights a much bigger issue. While many cheaters will exploit games simply to get an edge, others will use them to steal information. Nowadays, many online titles require prospective players to fill out copious amounts of information just to play. Since this also applies to many free-to-play titles, anyone’s information is vulnerable to gaming cheaters and general hackers. Piracy is still quite prominent and it’s possible that there will be more company crackdowns and “sting operations” to catch and remove them.

Dota 2 is an old but still successful game that pulls thousands of players every week. Naturally, that means it catches the attention of loads of cheaters. By crafting an in-game solution made to draw in and trap cheater accounts, Valve is another game company taking a clear stance against cheaters. It won’t be long before we see some crossover between gaming and cybersecurity.