Hi all, I have a few questions regarding Riot Games’ anti-cheat system Vanguard, required to play League of Legends and Valorant. I’m using a gaming laptop. If I install it, it will have kernel-level access on my computer, meaning it can do literally anything. Does this mean Vanguard will be able to see my other apps’ passwords? For example, can it see my Blizzard/Steam passwords? I understand Vanguard can read everything, including my Word/Excel files. Is there anything it won’t be able to see? I heard it can see all devices connected to the network. Is this true? For example, if my gaming laptop is playing League and my Samsung Galaxy is on the same Wi-Fi, can Vanguard see my Samsung Galaxy, and how much can it see? Thanks in advance!
That discussion has been done to a crisp. Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/riotgames/comments/1cn7xgy/can_someone_explain_why_vanguard_is_bad/
Yes, kernel-level anti-cheats run on kernel level and thus they can do anything. They have more access than you do. Vanguard could theoretically log all keystrokes or grab your login tokens. It’s dangerous and should be avoided. Vanguard has the highest amount of access, even more than most malware.
Exactly why I will never play any of their games.
I’ve set up scripts to not allow it to run on boot, only when the client launches. Is that safe?
No.
That doesn’t work; you have to reboot every time you launch Vanguard. You’re not safe with a kernel-level rootkit.