Getting hackers off your server: Info for Admins!

[Graz (DayZ) 146]

This is a basic compilation from known hacker websites, I can’t post evidence or what I have found as that is not allowed on these forums.

If you are a server admin, please read as this will help you minimize hacker attacks.

The motivation

My server has been running for close to two months. Hackers were a myth on this server and I always wondered why some hackers rape a server over and over yet leave mine pristine.

It suffered the first hacker attack last week, my team (4-5 people) had a substantial base. A Ural, Vs35, UAZ, 10-15 Tents, 2 Utes, 2 Bikes, 1 ATV and a Heuy stashed at a different location. This base was teleported to drakon island and also the sniper point in Cherno. I wasn’t online, but I became curious, why go after that base??? There’s nothing to gain as a script kiddie. The chopper was untouched at its separate location, why was that left alone???

No-one seems to ask script kiddies why they bother doing stuff like that. Blowing up a base is fun in itself, but there is more to it. I decided to do what I could and find out.

The Process

Over the last two weeks I have been scouring the popular hacking websites, I’ve created an account on 3 different sites that have advertised bypassing or scripting for Dayz. I have started threads asking people what makes them want to nuke a server.

My data collection, I totaled well over 400 posts and messages responding to these threads. I then removed posts by new accounts (under 10 posts total) and ones that were off-topic or excessively abusive. There’s no point in predicting crazy, you’ll just have to trust me on that.

I was left with 286 responses. This is no small number and the answer was very clear.

The result

Important

• Of the 286 posts, 270 said that they will only nuke a server that belongs to an abusive admin. What is admin abuse in the eyes of a hacker?
  

*Admins who reset a server after they die or the base is attacked

*Admins who show up on the reported thread multiple times are targeted

*Admins who password their server

*Admins who ban and kick players for little justification

This is %94 of the reason why hackers nuke a server

• Around 200 (just over) said that they will flatten bases that belong to ‘admins’ or ‘clans’. Most script kiddies seem to think than any ‘large’ base will belong to an abusive admin or a clan that is exploitive. Scripters assume that most clans have at least one covert scripter and are justified in destroy their ill-gotten gains. When an admin attempts to use their admin powers to reclaim the base, most scripters will chain nuke the server as a 'message'
  

• Just under half of the posts stated that they will nuke a server when they are killed by a hacker that is invulnerable, using a teleport script or has god mode on. Most script kiddies simply assume that anyone who can kill them is a hacker, this is a common assumption that I feel has more false positives than anything else.
  

• The ban-waves are hitting harder than you think. There is a ton of stolen IDs that is generating a very cheap CD-Key market, but battle-eye is starting to win. The number of complaints about banning is going up and up on these sites. Most people pay for ARMA II and then purchase a subscription to the battle-eye bypass and some are not reusing hacks after buying a new copy.
  This is an assumption on my part
  

Important

Ways to minimize hacker attacks on your server below;

• If you have accumulated multiple vehicles, spread them out! The high value vehicles (URAL, Vs35, Heuy, UAZ) should never be in the same place. Hackers will simply assume that you have been abusive to gather such an array of vehicles and will trash your ID
  
• Give a message before a restart, don’t just hit the button, and give warnings at 15, 10 & 5 minutes at least. I personally log off after 10, so people can’t kill me before a reset and think that I am resetting to get my stuff back.
  
• Do not react to a hacker attack!!! If you start banning, kicking, resetting and generally throwing a tantrum like a 12 year old you will only make it worse. All you will accomplish is guaranteeing that they will be back to ‘send a message’. If you go overboard, they will report you on the forums and you will get draw more wrath on your server and in the worst case scenario, get blacklisted. They want your delicious tears, don’t be a sucker and play into their hands. Play it cool, gather evidence, get them globally banned and have the last laugh
  
• Avoid an inflammatory message of the day. Posting useless, empty threats will only entice a scripter to rape your server and laugh at you about how powerless you are. Posting stuff like “all hackers will be banned” and “no faggot hacking” is pointless, you aren’t fooling anyone.
  

A brief disclaimer.

This isn’t ‘research’, ‘proof’, ‘evidence’ or ‘fact’. 300 is a small sample, I admit but the correlation is very strong.My thesis wasn’t on “hacker motivations” and I’m not a psychologist, nor have I intended to represent myself as one. The data is there, you should turn it into information however you see fit.

The message:

Many admins are trying to protect their servers. I admire that you are attempting to create a fair environment for everyone.

What you must understand is that we currently don’t have to the tools to take on script kiddies and/or hackers. Currently there are many false and overturned bans from admins. We are inflaming the community and goading hackers/scripters to attack servers. The best way to sort this problem out is to report to battle eye.

A global ban hurts these kids, it's the best way to grab this problem by the balls

Edited August 14, 2012 by Graz

[SqTH 260]

Here, take my balls too.

[Bacon Surfboard 61]

I find this utterly ridiculous.

You asked a bunch of script kids why they're destroying everything and they gave an option to make them sound like cyber heroes. That's hardly counter intuitive.

I play day in day out with a server admin who is well grounded and takes time to cater where he can to the community - removing barbed wire, warning on reboots etc and we've been getting hacked to pieces the last few days.

Teleported into the sky, thunder dome, we had 2 ATVs that were just mass teleported somewhere, 20 hueys spawning in...

I've been to the hacker forums out of curiosity and there is no substance to this idea they're some kind of Cyber Robin Hood, more common were people complaining that snipers or xyz was unfair and they're going to now fuck them up with hacks to make it fair. There is a social disconnect with these people where they need to feel powerful and get attention as they're unable to bring this about within the constraints of the game. Nothing more - asking why these kind of people need to do what they do - of course they're going to say something that bigs them up.

Also the paragraph listing rebooting the server etc as "Throwing a tantrum" is just asinine. Often the admin mate I roll with is trying to do some professional work and then gets bummed on skype that everyones being thrown to the dogs and he blocks ports for 10 minutes for the hackers to get bored and move on (which 99% of the time works because you're dealing with children).

[tatsuri 7]

Nice work bro. Way to keep it mathematical :D

[Graz (DayZ) 146]

I find this utterly ridiculous.

I play day in day out with a server admin who is well grounded and takes time to cater where he can to the community - removing barbed wire, warning on reboots etc and we've been getting hacked to pieces the last few days.

You reacted to attacks by port blocking and now your server is constantly being attacked?

I believe this is exactly the kind of thing I am talking about.

I love that your admin is doing what he can, but he's not solving anything at all.

Please take a little bit of time to read through my post and especially the message at the end. Getting a hacker to "move on" to another server is not solving the problem, you push, they will push back.

you're dealing with children.

Yes a lot of them are children, we all know the type;

Someone in life made them feel small and now they will use whatever power they have to make sure no-one pushes them around like that again. Most of them are spiteful, quick to anger and hold a grudge.

A global ban is the best way to solve the problem, admins need to spend less energy trying to be a vigilante and more time reporting these hackers.

Protecting "your" server will only make it personal. In the end kids will assume you are just another abusive admin and attack your server, like they have done over the last few days.

There is a reason developers put these restrictions in, they didn't do it to emasculate you.

[CheeseMelon 13]

I'm going to come off sounding like an ass but I think 286 of your participants are full of crap. (to some extent)

I am however too lazy to defend my position but I have a feeling other less lazy people than I may want to elaborate.

Unrelated note, for some reason when I read your post - I pictured penn jillette's voice. Weird, right?

[Bacon Surfboard 61]

No I feel you need to read my post where I said that 99% of the time they just move on and we have been getting hacked to pieces for "A few days" (Out of months)

I have read, and comprehend perfectly your points - I just reject them :) I do not find these people to be "sending messages" or "Pushing back".

I just literally went to a hacker forum to see if perhaps things have changed since I last was looking. No. Post after post after post of "I spawned some 1337 shit and now I got banned how do I get another key" "I was spawning some shit hot guns in because starry is always empty" "I spawned in 2 ATVs cus walking is for suckers".

Nothing, anywhere was about being an anon-esque payback hack. No one is going to hand over cash for a hack to "Push back" they hand over cash to run about in a hard environment doing things effortlessly.

The logs are sent, the reports made.

Your advice is akin to "Oh if you get raped just let them do it cus you know, you're just going to make them fight harder".

Make another poll and ask the player base if they would prefer the ports to be blocked for 10 minutes whilst the kids move on or just sit there whilst NPCs with AS50s are roaming around firing at anything that moves.

I feel there is nothing really to add, I have read, digested, and understood what you have said. I think you're wrong.

Kind Regards

[hunter2123 106]

You might just be as retarded as them "Dont ban the hackers :o!!!!!"

Btw, battleye isnt winning shit. If people are using a good website to pay for the bypass, they dont get banned unless they stream it.

[Graz (DayZ) 146]

Kids don't move on, you said it yourself.

The server you refer has been hacked to pieces the last few days. I just simply made the connection that it's not unreasonable to guess that your methods aren't working.

You also have repeatedly missed the key point. This is about nuking and kill scripting, the destructive hacking.

Should you read the post with an open mind. See that it's not about what your doing, it's what scripters think your are doing.

A script kiddie is walking around fully kitted out isn't a big deal, it doesn't make them better at the game. They can have an AS50 and rangefinders, it gives me someone to sink my teeth into.

You might just be as retarded as them "Dont ban the hackers :o!!!!!"

Btw, battleye isnt winning shit. If people are using a good website to pay for the bypass, they dont get banned unless they stream it.

That's not battle eye policy in my experience, I'm sorry that you feel being trigger happy will work.

Can I ask you just one question?

If battle eye is unable to do anything, what do you really think you are going to do????

Some food for thought

• The 11,000 bans by battle eye are have done far more for the community then anyone else.
  
• Reporting to battle eye consumes ZERO developer time, it's completely separate to Dayz and battle eye can actually do something about it.
  
• Admin abuse wastes developer time. They have to police the forums, enforce the ToS and review logs plus blacklisting claims.
  
• There has been little success from admin banning
  

All of the nay-saying, dumping and attempted derailing is reinforcing this point.

It also can't change that my server has suffered one attack in two months, it's regularly full and I have never issued a ban for hacking.

I receive less than one complaint a week and my character has been alive for nearly 2 weeks.

Interpret what you will from this thread, the substance is there

[graz 1]

Make sense.

It's a lot to ask someone to restrain themselves >_<

Hopefully it will be solved in the stand alone!!!

[iLLxTyphus 35]

I support this post cause he is right, i had a grp of 3-4 hackers TP me and my clan to them and took our guns away, they just started turning us into dogs and killed one of us, i just asked nice if they wouldn't mind doing this on another server, and they responded by giving us are guns back b.c we didnt freak out about the hack and left

[gambla 118]

Don't be naive please. These kids will always find a reason to attack a server, and there's always a good excuse for it. Like guns in our real world, they are just there, so they are used. You have to take away their toy, banning is all that helps. It's sad that these hacker forums are accepted like any other forum and not closed.

[Graz (DayZ) 146]

Don't be naive please. These kids will always find a reason to attack a server, and there's always a good excuse for it. Like guns in our real world, they are just there, so they are used. You have to take away their toy, banning is all that helps. It's sad that these hacker forums are accepted like any other forum and not closed.

I completely agree that the forums that promote cheating should be shut down, it's just not going to happen though.

A ban is what works, global bans hurt and mean another $30.

Ultimately what is better is script detection and just simply negating malicious scripts. There are solutions server side that prevent setdamage=1 and there is a loop that kicks people with godmode.

I didn't mean to come across as naive, but thank you for supporting the reporting and banning system :)

[commandoawesome 0]

I hate the hackers on DayZ, like one time I was playing and *BAM* everyone was killed ( and at this time I had found the NW airfield with no map or compass) so I was pissed then he spawns us all with the most supierior equipment on the middle of a small island out in the ocean. All that needs to be done is that if the DayZ files are modded the mod crashes when trying to play it, maybe this could be done as I love to go looking for items but it's just when some homo hacker comes in and ruins it. >:( :thumbsup:

[Lightvision (DayZ) 21]

To start with, OP i think they spoon fed alot of crap, most time the script kiddies/hackers strike when they have been found out, a few times i have played things seemed normal and then i try killing someone, like unloading 3 mags from an m4a1 and not missing into someone and i get killed and then all chaos breaks out, or a hacker/script kiddie forgets god mode and gets killed then BOOM chaos is unleashed.

the server i play on, the admin is most certainly NOT abusive, tbh due to his real life responsibilities he is hardly online but the server gets hit like between 3 to 15 times a day. we dont dupe, we dont covert script gear for ourselves, we dont hoard everything. there may be only a handful that will go after abusive admins but when a hacking script went public things just got out of control, and i know another has recently went public too targeting 1.7.2.5

Edited August 14, 2012 by Lightvision

[Blinkshot 0]

Too some extent some of these "cyber heros" as depicted above (false) only use this information there giving you as an excuse to have fun with there hacks... They literally just want to cause destruction most of the time.

[Graz (DayZ) 146]

Oh I agree, they are not cyber heroes and the few people that script for the right reasons would never be so stupid as to announce what they are doing.

Most of this comes down to "butt hurt"

What server admins need to understand is that preventing a hacker attack starts well before the pipe bombs start dropping.

Interestingly enough, since this I have started this thread the servers I administrate have been hacked several times a day. Coincidence??

I'll admit that the following guide lines will not stop hackers entirely, but I feel that it's a step in the right direction.

Your feelings about battle eye aren't as important as nailing hackers. Continue to report to them and they will slap these kiddies with global bans!!