GUID. As with previous PunkBuster GUID bans, hardware GUID lockouts are permanent. Even Balance has not disclosed what hardware PunkBuster looks for when issuing a ban, but close examination of the software has indicated that the GUID may be based on the serial numbers of scanned hard-drives. As with many bans based on information from the user's system, hardware GUID bans can be spoofed. False positives During the period of October 30 to November 6, 2013, Punkbuster was falsely banning Battlefield 4 users with the error "(Gamehack #89265)". As of November 8, 2013 the issue has been resolved by Even Balance inc. and all Punkbuster bans resulting from this error have been resolved and officially deemed a false-positive. "We have confirmed that Violation #89265 may be triggered by non-cheat software. This Violation code has been removed from our master servers and we encourage server admins to give the benefit of the doubt to players who raised this code over the past few days." Attacks on PunkBuster PunkBuster usually searches for known cheat program signatures as opposed to relying on a heuristic approach. On March 23, 2008, hackers published and implemented a proof of concept exploit of PunkBuster's indiscriminate memory scanning. Because PunkBuster scans all of a machine's virtual memory, malicious users were able to cause mass false positives by transmitting text fragments from known cheat programs onto a high population IRC channel. When PunkBuster detected the text within user's IRC client text buffers, the users were banned. On March 25, 2008, Even Balance confirmed the existence of this exploit. Games using PunkBuster Assassin's Creed 3 Battlefield 2 Battlefield 2142 Battlefield 3 Battlefield 1942 Battlefield 4 Battlefield Hardline Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Battlefield Heroes Battlefield Play4Free Battlefield Vietnam Blacklight: Retribution Call of Duty Call of Duty 2 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Call of Duty: World at War Crysis Far Cry Far Cry 2 Far Cry 3 Medal of Honor (2010) Medal of Honor: Warfighter Need for Speed: ProStreet Quake 3 Arena Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad Return to Castle Wolfenstein Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 America's Army See also Cheating in online games GameGuard (nProtect) Valve Anti-Cheat Warden References External links 2000 software Anti-cheat software