How hackers broke Pokémon Go’s anti-cheat technology in four days
When we first wrote about the world of automated Pokémon Go-playing "bot" programs a few weeks ago, we predicted a brewing technological war. Developer Niantic was inevitably going to deploy cheat-detection technology, and hackers would subsequently work to break through that detection. Last week, we saw the first battle in that war, and so far it seems like the hackers are winning handily.
After largely ignoring the growing issues of bots (and related mapping hacks) for weeks, Pokémon Go developer Niantic rolled out a mandatory game update last Wednesday focused on cutting off server access for such unofficial apps. In a blog post last Thursday, Niantic cited "aggressive efforts by third parties to access our servers outside of the Pokémon Go game client and our terms of service." The developer argued these hacks were overloading its servers and its employees, slowing efforts to improve the game and bring it to new markets.
