Security Advisory Update - September 22, 2024

[LSPD-Official 31]

Security Advisory Update - September 22, 2024

The Los Santos Police Department is pleased to announce that a recent update to the PC version of GTA Online has introduced a new third-party anti-cheat solution, BattlEye. This move marks a notable shift for Rockstar Games, who have traditionally relied on in-house methods to manage the persistent issue of cheating. While these previous efforts have had mixed success, particularly following the removal of key anti-cheat measures (as highlighted in our October 2022 Security Advisory), the introduction of BattlEye represents a potentially significant improvement.

Although BattlEye is not a new technology, this may be the first time Rockstar Games has directly integrated a dedicated third-party anti-cheat solution into one of their titles, entrusting an organization whose primary focus is combating cheating. Given that BattlEye has greater system access than previous in-house implementations, this approach may prove more effective in curbing the rampant cheating that has plagued the game in recent years. However, as history with GTA Online has shown, only time will tell how successful this measure will be.

Our personnel on the PC sector have already encountered some difficulties, primarily in the North American region, due to untrusted hosts—cheaters attempting to circumvent the new anti-cheat system—and service disruptions caused by denial-of-service attacks targeting GTA Online and Rockstar Games Cloud Services. Despite these challenges, early reports indicate a substantial reduction in cheater activity, with the percentage of cheaters per session dropping from approximately 72% before BattlEye’s implementation to less than 20% afterward.

While no anti-cheat system can fully eliminate cheating in any online game, this shift by Rockstar Games signals a promising step in the right direction. We remain cautiously optimistic that this move will significantly reduce the presence of less sophisticated cheaters and those of the less intelligent persuasion in the game.

That said, we urge players to remain vigilant in the coming weeks and months. Experts note that BattlEye’s effectiveness can vary depending on how it is implemented within each game as well as the accessibility of public and paid cheat software. We are all keenly aware that past attempts to address cheating have been quickly circumvented, sometimes within hours, leaving many players skeptical. In light of this, we intentionally delayed this announcement to avoid premature speculation, preferring to observe the system's effectiveness over time.

On a separate note, following the feedback we received since our September 8th, 2024 newsletter, we have re-evaluated our decision to archive some of our previous LSPD news articles. Many expressed discontent with this move especially internally, and upon further review, we have taken the necessary steps to restore these articles. We believe this action will help preserve the transparency and historical record of our department, contributing to our mission on public trust and professionalism. However, please be aware that some older newsletters and security advisories, which were stored with a third-party provider, remain lost due to a natural disaster in early 2017, when inadequate backup systems resulted in irreversible data loss.

All-in-all, we encourage all players to remain vigilant and take advantage of the current enhancements to enjoy GTA Online safely. Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you have an enjoyable experience in the current iteration of the game.