Valorant: Riot Games Offering $100,000 Bounty for Cracking Vanguard Anti-Cheat

Riot Games, the powerhouse behind VALORANT and League of Legends,  showed their guts by bringing a challenge to the cybersecurity world floor. The company has opened a $100,000 bounty for hackers who can expose vulnerabilities in its most sought-after company Vanguard anti-cheat solution. The initiative will not only strengthen Riot's security stance but also emphasize that the company is serious about fair play across all of its titles.

What is Vanguard?

Initially developed for VALORANT, Vanguard is now an integral part of all three Riot Games games: League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics within their online structure-deployment of 2024. Operating as an on-boot application, it ensures rigorous security from the moment a PC starts. Riot emphasizes compliance with regional data privacy laws, ensuring users’ data is protected while maintaining competitive fairness.

Also Read: Riot Games Levels Up League of Legends for 2025: SEA Server Merge & Seasonal Model

The $100,000 Bug Bounty

On November 19, 2024, Riot Games expanded its Bug Bounty Program to include new categories targeting Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) exploits. The updated rewards range from $500 to $100,000 based on the complexity and severity of the identified vulnerabilities. The most significant payouts, up to $100,000, are reserved for critical exploits like those that target individual players in a session or cause targeted disconnections.

How to Participate

Vulnerability reports may be submitted by hackers through HackerOne, an ethical hacking platform. If not, they can always send an email to Riot at bugbounty@riotgames.com. All submissions will then pass through a very tight validation process by Riot's security team.

Key details:

• Bounties vary by exploit category and severity.
• Minimal payouts ($500-$2,500) address smaller issues like non-traffic volume-based disruptions.
• Maximum payouts ($100,000) cover vulnerabilities requiring major code changes to fix.

This is an initiative launched by Riot Games to show commitment to having something that will enable security and fair play among players. So, for performing the above circuits on Vanguard, ethical hackers would have the double benefit of being proven credible for anti-cheat measures as well as being rewarded substantially for real-world vulnerability discoveries in the code.

The program primarily reinforces integrity in a game and provides a more proactive security testament for the gaming industry. Players can enjoy their favorite titles from Riot with greater confidence in the systems that manage their gaming experiences.