(source) nProtect Gameguard is an anti-cheat root toolkit developed by INCA Internet. GameGuard hides the game application process, monitors the entire memory range, terminates applications defined by the game vendor and INCA Internet to be cheats (QIP for example), blocks certain calls to Direct X functions and Windows APIs, keylogs your keyboard input, and auto-updates itself to change as new possible threats surface. It's known to cause pc instability which includes common BSoDs, deletion of harmless files and drivers, such as one for gaming keyboards/mice(example: Logitech G510 and G710+), anti-virus and firewall programs.
nProtect GameGuard is not like other anticheat programs out there. If you decide to remove the game, Gameguard will stay in your system as there is no uninstall feature.
Also an informative thread on Reddit (archived) is worth a read. Giant risk.
Some of the .dlls will be removed with the game but some will be hidden in your system. You have to manually uninstall them which includes editing the registry. Being there is in fact .exe files left in your system it can run when INCA decides to and it can still scan your system memory and keystrokes.
Not that this diminishes a lot of security concerns though. I'm just highlighting it because some people might jump to thinking that their computers are permanently infected after just one run, which isn't likely to be the case.
That could become a potential risk if a person keeps playing the game anyway and the software ends up being compromised (or used as an attack vector by a third party).
So just stop playing such games if you already have, remove the game and thoroughly clean out the anticheat software, and just avoid such games in the future. That should be sufficient for most people.
Oh, and there is still some possibility that there was at least a little bit of network/system snooping that's been shared to who knows where. A fairly legitimate privacy concern, though I'm not sure how much depth that data collection goes and whether or not most of the concern is during the game's runtime (keystroke-wise in particular).
Privacy aside, nprotect is so shit users have reported it causing significant hardware issues from stuff like disabling their fans all the way up to bricking their harddrives in extreme cases.
Incorporating anticheat or DRM software is almost always a stupid move to make from both a technical and sometimes even a gameplay standpoint, and I have fairly minimal tolerance for most modern implementations of it.
nProtect GameGuard
Also an informative thread on Reddit (archived) is worth a read. Giant risk.
You missed another important bit from that post:
Not that this diminishes a lot of security concerns though. I'm just highlighting it because some people might jump to thinking that their computers are permanently infected after just one run, which isn't likely to be the case.
That could become a potential risk if a person keeps playing the game anyway and the software ends up being compromised (or used as an attack vector by a third party).
So just stop playing such games if you already have, remove the game and thoroughly clean out the anticheat software, and just avoid such games in the future. That should be sufficient for most people.
Oh, and there is still some possibility that there was at least a little bit of network/system snooping that's been shared to who knows where. A fairly legitimate privacy concern, though I'm not sure how much depth that data collection goes and whether or not most of the concern is during the game's runtime (keystroke-wise in particular).
Privacy aside, nprotect is so shit users have reported it causing significant hardware issues from stuff like disabling their fans all the way up to bricking their harddrives in extreme cases.
Oh I very much agree.
Incorporating anticheat or DRM software is almost always a stupid move to make from both a technical and sometimes even a gameplay standpoint, and I have fairly minimal tolerance for most modern implementations of it.