Re: [GD-General] Is it possible to detect debugging?

[Aaron D. <ri...@in...>]

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 10:53 am, Mat Noguchi (BUNGIE) wrote:
> That won't stop me from running windbg in non-invasive mode and
> capturing a memory dump, then inspecting that.
>
> I've done it before. It's not that hard at all.
>
True. But that isn't exactly debugging... Nor could you restore a memory 
snapshot and expect the application state and graphics card state to also 
magically return to an operational condition. Of course there is no way to 
stop a determined cracker/debugger but at least these mechanisms will provide 
some sort of a road block to make things harder. (Although some may just see 
it as a challenge..)

I've had a few games with CD-copy protection (eg. The Sims) refuse to load 
because I was running SoftICE (A debugger that runs below the OS). I'm sure 
that I could have stepped through the 'debugger detection' routine and 
skipped it if I really wanted to but the hassle was enough of a deterant for 
me (I just rebooted without it...) and I guess a large majority of would-be 
crackers would just get stumped by your super-37173 crack detection and not 
be able to figure out which jump command to modify. ):