Wild West Hackin' Fest - Deadwood 2024

This presentation offers an exploration into the origins, innovations, and implications of hacking in the gaming industry. In a virtual world where pixels and code meet human creativity, video games have taken off in popularity within the last 70 years. Beginning with a look at the rudimentary hacks of early classics, we will explore how the earliest video game hacks shaped the future of gaming and cybersecurity. From memory manipulation and code injection using tools like GameShark and Cheat Engine, to the creative exploitation of glitches and zero day discoveries such as Log4Shell, video games have always been a target for manipulation aimed at gaining an unfair advantage. There have been notable video game hacks that have impacted security as a whole, and these could continue to get more severe as more complex technology emerges with the rise of virtual reality. This journey will walk through the evolution and predictions for what video game and virtual reality hacking could mean for the future of security. By examining the intersection of video gaming and security, this can offer insights that are relevant to practitioners, researchers, and gamers alike.