Seattle Forrest

Last month, Dixon gave a 40-minute presentation at DEF CON, a popular computer security conference, called Cheating in eSports: How to Cheat at Virtual Cycling Using USB Hacks. He detailed how, with some standard hardware and an Xbox controller, he tricked the system into thinking he was humming around Watopia at race pace while doing nothing more strenuous than cracking open a beer.

...

“I unplug the dongle from my computer, and I plug it into the man-in-the-middle box. Then I plug the man-in-the-middle box into the computer,” Dixon said. “Once I do that, I can inspect all of the communications from my Kickr and heart-rate monitor and cadence sensor that are going to Zwift, and I can also modify those communications.”

https://www.bicycling.com/news/amp28...zwift-hacking/

RChung

There are ways to detect naive cheating (and the article makes it sound like this falls into this category) but a clever dedicated motivated cheater can almost always find a way to make detection hard.

MoAlpha

TOTGAS.

Too old to...

DrIsotope

This really only impacts competition, and every organized Zwift event I've seen is at a specified location, so equipment can be constantly monitored.

If this is about KOM thievery or artificially climbing Strava leaderboards... ultra meh. A Zwift KOM is scarcely more than a party trick as it is.

colnago62

What is crazy to me is that you can win more money winning a virtual race than many real world races.

Seattle Forrest

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you! That people take Zwift seriously though to go to the trouble, or actually race in it.

RChung

Zwift's chief developer used to post here.

sdmc530

I am not old and I still DGAS!

doping on Zwift is just dumb...I could care less who is doing what on there. I am there just to bike....

CarloM

Lol yeah, I am busting my behind in my local routes to get to 30mph on some 1-2% descents...and then I see the leaderboards on Strava for that same stretch at 80+mph.

DrIsotope

It kinda makes sense, though. There's no permits, no staffing, no outdoor venues or streets to block off-- and you needn't worry about the weather.

It's also a more level playing field (at least for now) where the genetic freaks are out there on real bikes in the real world, and comparatively normal cyclists can compete virtually.

Which is to say, I get it. I don't wanna do it, but I understand the attraction.

Rollfast

I couldn't even get far at Frogger, and it was fun.

rseeker

Now that you mention it, some days it feels like that game IRL.

colnago62

I think it is still generically advantaged individuals winning, it just takes out the additional need for bike handling skill. Some 10k guy can get on and be very competitive without really having to pay any dues. You can even have a coach telling you when to attack and sit in. All the rider really has to bring to the table is fitness.

jbbr

The whole issue of hacking/cheating in Zwift or any other unregulated game or “competition” is bogus. Yes, the platform is attempting to attain legitimacy for true competition. There will always be someone utilizing a workaround if the platform or real world competition isn’t controlled, regulated, and officiated. Even then someone will find someway.
This is a hot topic in the zwift forums. It’s surprising how many participants get twisted because someone is sandbagging, not being upgraded, or tweaking their smart hardware/software/sensors. For the vast majority, it’s simply a great way to maintain condition when riding outside sucks.
I actually look forward to getting on my indoor trainer when previously I would typically find any excuse not to.

Seattle Forrest

Or an intercept device.

Seattle Forrest

The article complains that how this all works isn't secured. People can find a way around most systems with enough time, energy, and money; this one in particular is really easy. Zwift is a soft target.

Not that I care, I'm just clarifying. To be honest I'm more interested in this as a software developer than as a cyclist.

Badger6

Flag it, clearly in a car...also, if a car can get to 80+ when Jo Bag of Donuts forgets to turn off strava after his 15km/h avg ride, what are you riding a bike on there for?

CarloM

Actually it’s surface streets in an affluent area. Speed limit I believe is 40. So they’re clearly doing it at probably 4am and praying cops aren’t hanging around there.

Badger6

Gotta love how people think rules don't apply to them when driving a car.

Voodoo76

I've done a ton of real world racing and a fair amount on Zwift & this is a reasonable statement. The game also really tilts the table towards riders with very high aerobic capacity, the true impact of drafting in a pack is very under simulated. It's a tough environment for a wheel sucking sprinter.



I "line up" with the attitude of trying to gain fitness & racing against the game/myself (not other riders) for me all of the various forms of "cheating" are a non-issue.

I think the future is going to require a certain number of monitored competitions for you to be a legit racer in certain classes. Anyone cheating to reach that level would be exposed in <5m of racing.

MoAlpha

It is interesting from that standpoint, as is the depressing fascination, or even preference, for things virtual over their real world counterparts. I will forward the piece to my quasi-son-in-law, who is a software developer, and would sit indoors all day, experiencing the world on his screens, subsisting on fake foods, and solipsistically monitoring his vital signs, if my daughter didn’t yank him into the daylight once in a while. In his defense, I think that’s the main reason he needs her.

indyfabz

Funny. During my walk to work this morning I had to jump out of the way of a motorist while crossing the street legally in a crosswalk. Choice words were uttered in her direction.

Gyro

Electric bike on the trainer.

MoAlpha

Brilliant.

Rides4Beer

People will always find a way to cheat, no matter the activity or medium. I bought a trainer last winter when I first started riding, and never even took it out of the box, so I returned it to the store. Decided I'd rather ride in the cold than in the garage. But there's also only a few days in the winter where it's not safe to ride around here due to ice, the rest is just dealing with the temps. If I was up north, I'd def have a nice trainer setup with a big screen.