<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Application
program	I-Application
that	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
detect	O
software	O
used	O
for	O
cheating	O
in	O
online	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
is	O
developed	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Even	B-Application
Balance	I-Application
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tony	O
Ray	O
founded	O
Even	B-Application
Balance	I-Application
to	O
develop	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
after	O
his	O
experience	O
with	O
cheaters	O
on	O
Team	B-Application
Fortress	I-Application
Classic	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
beta	O
of	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
was	O
announced	O
on	O
September	O
21	O
,	O
2000	O
,	O
for	O
Half-Life	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
game	O
in	O
which	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
was	O
integrated	O
was	O
id	O
Software	O
's	O
Return	B-Application
to	I-Application
Castle	I-Application
Wolfenstein	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Real-time	O
scanning	O
of	O
memory	O
,	O
by	O
placing	O
a	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
Client	O
on	O
players	O
 '	O
computers	O
searching	O
for	O
known	O
hacks/cheats	O
using	O
a	O
built-in	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frequent	O
status	O
reports	O
are	O
sent	O
to	O
the	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
Server	O
by	O
all	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
necessary	O
,	O
the	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
Server	O
raises	O
a	O
violation	O
which	O
(	O
depending	O
upon	O
settings	O
)	O
will	O
cause	O
the	O
offending	O
player	O
to	O
be	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
game	O
and	O
all	O
other	O
players	O
to	O
be	O
informed	O
of	O
the	O
violation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
Admins	O
can	O
also	O
manually	O
remove	O
players	O
from	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
a	O
specified	O
number	O
of	O
minutes	O
or	O
permanently	O
ban	O
if	O
desired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
Servers	O
can	O
optionally	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
randomly	O
check	O
player	O
settings	O
looking	O
for	O
known	O
exploits	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
Servers	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
instruct	O
clients	O
to	O
calculate	O
partial	O
MD5	B-Algorithm
hashes	I-Algorithm
of	O
files	O
inside	O
the	O
game	O
installation	O
directory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
Admins	O
can	O
request	O
actual	O
screenshot	O
samples	O
from	O
specific	O
players	O
and/or	O
can	O
configure	O
the	O
PB	O
Server	O
to	O
randomly	O
grab	O
screenshot	O
samples	O
from	O
players	O
during	O
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
optional	O
"	O
bad	O
name	O
"	O
facility	O
is	O
provided	O
so	O
that	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
Admins	O
can	O
prevent	O
players	O
from	O
using	O
offensive	O
player	O
names	O
containing	O
unwanted	O
profanity	B-Protocol
or	O
slurs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Search	O
functions	O
are	O
provided	O
for	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
Admins	O
who	O
wish	O
to	O
search	O
player	O
's	O
keybindings	O
and	O
scripts	O
for	O
anything	O
that	O
may	O
be	O
known	O
to	O
exploit	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
Player	O
Power	O
facility	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
allow	O
players	O
to	O
self-administer	O
game	O
servers	O
when	O
the	O
Server	O
Administrator	O
is	O
not	O
present	O
entirely	O
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
passwords	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
players	O
can	O
call	O
votes	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
player	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
server	O
for	O
a	O
certain	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
Servers	O
have	O
an	O
optional	O
built-in	O
mini	O
HTTP	B-Application
web	I-Application
server	I-Application
interface	O
that	O
allows	O
the	O
game	O
server	O
to	O
be	O
remotely	O
administered	O
via	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
from	O
anywhere	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
Admins	O
can	O
stream	O
their	O
server	O
logs	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
to	O
another	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
has	O
initiated	O
Punkbuster	B-Application
Hardware	I-Application
Bans	I-Application
,	O
that	O
bans	O
hardware	O
components	O
upon	O
detection	O
of	O
cheats	O
that	O
disrupt	O
or	O
circumvent	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
's	O
normal	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
games	O
(	O
like	O
Crysis	B-Application
or	O
BioShock	B-Application
2	I-Application
)	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
64-bit	O
version	O
of	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
reason	O
,	O
64	O
bit	O
clients	O
will	O
not	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
play	O
in	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
enabled	O
servers	O
unless	O
they	O
run	O
the	O
32-bit	O
client	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
does	O
not	O
allow	O
Windows	O
users	O
without	O
administrative	O
accounts	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
any	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
PB	O
client	O
v1.700	O
,	O
a	O
Windows	O
service	O
with	O
full	O
administrative	O
rights	O
is	O
used	O
in	O
complement	O
with	O
the	O
ingame	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
client	O
,	O
allowing	O
updates	O
without	O
user	O
rights	O
elevation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
some	O
games	O
might	O
still	O
require	O
administrative	O
rights	O
before	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
will	O
function	O
correctly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
uses	O
a	O
system	O
called	O
'	O
global	O
banning	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Either	O
the	O
GUID	O
(	O
generated	O
from	O
the	O
CD	B-Application
key	I-Application
)	O
or	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
hardware	O
are	O
banned	O
from	O
PunkBuster-enabled	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
attempts	O
at	O
cheating	O
will	O
only	O
receive	O
a	O
detection	O
warning	O
,	O
but	O
cheats	O
that	O
interfere	O
with	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
's	O
software	O
itself	O
could	O
lock	O
out	O
the	O
GUID	O
of	O
the	O
offending	O
system	O
and	O
disable	O
access	O
to	O
all	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
enabled	O
servers	O
for	O
that	O
particular	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Particularly	O
severe	O
instances	O
of	O
cheating	O
may	O
lock	O
the	O
offending	O
computer	O
out	O
of	O
all	O
PunkBuster-protected	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
June	O
30	O
,	O
2004	O
,	O
Even	B-Application
Balance	I-Application
has	O
used	O
unique	O
hardware	O
identifiers	O
to	O
permanently	O
ban	O
players	O
who	O
attempt	O
to	O
interfere	O
with	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
's	O
normal	O
operation	O
(	O
which	O
is	O
,	O
itself	O
,	O
a	O
violation	O
of	O
the	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
EULA	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	B-Application
Balance	I-Application
uses	O
a	O
128-bit	O
private	O
one-way	B-Algorithm
hash	I-Algorithm
so	O
that	O
no	O
serial	O
number	O
information	O
for	O
individual	O
computers	O
can	O
be	O
obtained	O
from	O
a	O
hardware	O
GUID	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
previous	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
GUID	O
bans	O
,	O
hardware	O
GUID	O
lockouts	O
are	O
permanent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	B-Application
Balance	I-Application
has	O
not	O
disclosed	O
what	O
hardware	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
looks	O
for	O
when	O
issuing	O
a	O
ban	O
,	O
but	O
close	O
examination	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
has	O
indicated	O
that	O
the	O
GUID	O
may	O
be	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
serial	O
numbers	O
of	O
scanned	O
hard-drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
period	O
of	O
October	O
30	O
to	O
November	O
6	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
Punkbuster	B-Application
was	O
falsely	O
banning	O
Battlefield	O
4	O
users	O
with	O
the	O
error	O
"	O
(	O
Gamehack	O
#89265	O
)	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
November	O
8	O
,	O
2013	O
the	O
issue	O
has	O
been	O
resolved	O
by	O
Even	B-Application
Balance	I-Application
inc	O
.	O
and	O
all	O
Punkbuster	B-Application
bans	O
resulting	O
from	O
this	O
error	O
have	O
been	O
resolved	O
and	O
officially	O
deemed	O
a	O
false-positive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PunkBuster	B-Application
usually	O
searches	O
for	O
known	O
cheat	O
program	O
signatures	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
relying	O
on	O
a	O
heuristic	B-Algorithm
approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
23	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
hackers	O
published	O
and	O
implemented	O
a	O
proof	O
of	O
concept	O
exploit	O
of	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
's	O
indiscriminate	O
memory	O
scanning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
scans	O
all	O
of	O
a	O
machine	O
's	O
virtual	O
memory	O
,	O
malicious	O
users	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
cause	O
mass	O
false	O
positives	O
by	O
transmitting	O
text	O
fragments	O
from	O
known	O
cheat	O
programs	O
onto	O
a	O
high	O
population	O
IRC	B-Protocol
channel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
PunkBuster	B-Application
detected	O
the	O
text	O
within	O
user	O
's	O
IRC	B-Protocol
client	O
text	O
buffers	O
,	O
the	O
users	O
were	O
banned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
25	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
Even	B-Application
Balance	I-Application
confirmed	O
the	O
existence	O
of	O
this	O
exploit	O
.	O
</s>
