Is it safe to play Apex Legends? All we know about the Destroyer2009 hack

A hacker has rocked the entire Apex Legends community by breaching a live ALGS game. An infamous Apex figure, Destroyer2009, is supposedly behind the hack, leaving players wondering if it’s safe to play Apex Legends. 

On March 17, Destroyer2009 provided hacks to Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose and then Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen in the middle of the NA Regional Finals of ALGS. Both pro players stopped playing the game after realizing they had been hacked, but the latter still got banned while trying to play competitive Apex Legends. 

Cheating is a common issue in any online game, but this event has raised concerns over online safety and game integrity. ALGS is Apex’s biggest tournament, and if pro players are prone to a breach, then is it really safe to play Apex for a regular player?

Here’s what we know about the Destroyer2009 hack. 

• Related: ALGS postponed after pro players get hacked on livestream

What’s the Destroyer2009 hack?

The Destroyer2009 is an advanced hack that community figures are still making sense of. A notable anti-cheat account on X, anti-cheat police department, initially suspected that Destroyer2009 may have utilized an RCE (Remote Code Execution) cheat. They also confirmed it with Destroyer2009 himself. More information has been revealed now. 

As evident from the name, RCE is a type of hack that allows a malicious actor to gain access to machines from remote locations. This means Destroyer2009 had free access to computers during ALGS, installing cheats into Genburten and ImperialHal’s computers. While he used it to install cheats, RCE is actually pretty dangerous and puts your privacy at risk. 

It was suspected that Destroyer2009 hack RCE was executed through the game’s anti-cheat, but Easy Anti-Cheat has finally responded. 

We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue within Easy Anti-Cheat. At this time – we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed

— Easy Anti-Cheat (@TeddyEAC) March 18, 2024

What engine does Apex Legends run on?

Apex Legends runs on Valve’s Source engine. 

While RCE could very well be Destroyer2009’s mode of hacking, Easy Anti-Cheat has assured that there’s no “RCE vulnerability in EAC being exploited.” This has led Apex community figures to believe that the Source engine could be the culprit here. 

Source engine could have allowed access to computers of pro players, according to ACPD account on X. To execute this theatric, the hacker didn’t really need kernel anti-cheat, but a Steam friend request or invite could have also done the job. Since Apex runs on Source, it’s possible that this was the case, but some players are still cursing the anti-cheat. However, it’s tough to pinpoint the cause as of now. 

Is Apex Legends safe to play?

Pro players and community figures are advising against playing Apex Legends, which is still vulnerable. It’s best to step away from the game until EA publishes a clear statement regarding Destroyer2009. 

The pro players have also advised players to reinstall Windows or do a cleanup. Many have already started acting on the wise words and uninstalling Apex for the time being.