20-year hacker case illegally profiting tens of billions of dong from games: Revealed for `weird` reasons 1
Manfred’s character is still standing still in WildStar, an online science fiction game from 2014. Manfred, the real person behind the character in the game, is typing commands into a debugging program.
I’m watching a video of Manfred recording his hack.
At current rates, Manfred estimates the total value of his WildStar holdings is equivalent to $397 trillion.
“The best hacks are when you’re completely invisible, because you change the rules of the game without anyone knowing about it.”
When I spoke to Manfred before his session at the Def Con conference, he said he wanted to attend the conference, make his comments, and disappear like “a ghost,” with no one to hear or see.
Unlike most other hackers, Manfred does not cheat or hack to gain an advantage over his opponents.
“When hacking online games, my main goal is to become invisible.
On Saturday, Manfred stepped out of the shadows and told his story for the first time.
Starting with Ultima Online, one of the online games with a large number of players, Manfred said that he began looking for ways to hack the game and earn virtual currency or goods, which were then resold on eBay or other marketplaces.
Manfred has refused to reveal to me or the audience his income over the past 20 years.
“I don’t like to call it hacking,” Manfred told me.
First mission
Everything started in 1997, when he was playing Ultima Online.
During a boring day, he discovered a game bug that changed his life.
One time, Manfred intended to put a castle in Ultima on eBay for sale.
“Look, this is real money!”, Manfred recalled.
But Ultima is just the beginning.
“I’m a big supplier in these games,” Manfred said.
For example, in the game Dark Age of Camelot, Manfred found a loophole that allowed him to log in and out without being censored by the game system, allowing him to “dupe” items, virtual currency, and other things.
“I can earn as much as I want.
Most of Manfred’s hacks were successful and went unnoticed, except for one time with the game Shadowbane.
“That was my last dangerous mission, after that I dived very low and made sure that the following missions were not recognized by anyone.”
Manfred said that he may be the only person who has been hacking games for real life for such a long time.
It is truly a `fertile field`.
And not just individual hacks.
Show up for good things
For Manfred, the exposure was an opportunity to show the world that video game security needs to be taken more seriously.
“It’s like you hack this game, then you pause and continue hacking another game”
Manfred said that he stopped hacking games last year, and now has a regular job.
“It was a pretty good life,” he said.
“I no longer feel as comfortable as before,” he said.
Hacking games can still be a `fertile career` as Manfred pointed out, but for the guy who has lived 20 years hacking games, it’s time to find a more realistic job.
Refer to Motherboard
