In summary:
- PCWorld reports that new Denuvo cracking methods use hypervisor technology that operates beneath Windows, significantly speeding up game piracy processes.
- These tools require disabling critical Windows security features like Secure Boot, leaving PCs extremely vulnerable to malware attacks.
- The security risks are so severe that even members of the piracy community express concern about these dangerous vulnerabilities.
Digital piracy has never been without its dangers. Back in the glory days of Limewire you could turn your PC into a cesspool of viruses with just a few MP3 downloads. But the newest tools to defeat Denuvo, the perennially unpopular anti-game piracy tool, uses a technique that could get your PC pwned even harder.
Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM is contentious to say the least. For over a decade it’s been included on PC games big and small, using online activation and various other methods to keep games out of the hands of pirates. (And yes, Assassin’s Creed 4 from the above image is among them!) Defeating or “cracking” Denuvo has become a goal and a milestone for pirates with nearly every new high-profile game that uses it, and the time from release to crack has gone down steadily as pirates and software engineers get better at the task. Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert were both cracked almost immediately, and things only seem to be speeding up.
The latest tools to bypass Denuvo manipulate a virtualization tool called a “hypervisor,” running software concurrently beneath the main operating system (almost invariably Windows) that can intercept instructions going directly to the CPU. This allows them to bypass weeks or months of cracking, and circumvent Denuvo’s systems that require an encrypted handshake with online servers. That is an incredibly basic explanation, but a few of you reading this probably have alarm bells going off if you know anything about computer security.
As TorrentFreak explains, hypervisor cracks require the user to turn off a lot of built-in protections in Windows. Many of them require Secure Boot to be disabled in order to work, which can open a PC to an incredible amount of malicious software. (Secure Boot is also required for various anti-cheat tools for online games.) Some crack developers are so wary of this that they refuse to use the new techniques.
It takes some serious security issues to get members of the online piracy community spooked. Game pirates are already risking legal danger by violating copyright laws, and often exposing themselves to cracks that are sketchy at best. Piracy and cheating tools are often easy targets for those who want to spread malware, because they’re already hosted in dubious locations. So the fact that even these users are concerned about the inherent vulnerabilities of these techniques is saying something.
A hypervisor isn’t a panacea for DRM, either: Some reduce performance or fail to run on particular CPUs, and of course, Denuvo’s software engineers are constantly trying to make it more secure.
While there’s obvious motivation to acquire games without paying for them, Denuvo software is hated by plenty of PC gamers who note its hit to game performance, and who resent being “punished” even when they paid for the game. Others argue that the DRM is disastrous for game preservation, as games with Denuvo enabled might not work in the future if those handshake servers are taken down.
Whatever the risks, hypervisor cracks seem to have greatly accelerated. According to this aggregated Reddit list, hundreds and hundreds of games with Denuvo DRM have been cracked, with a few dozen remaining uncracked at the time of writing. Developers have also elected to remove Denuvo themselves from even more games.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 15-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.