I have seen a few posts recently and I want to post something here as well.

VAC, Valve Anti-Cheat, is not perfect, not by any means. Nor is any other Anti-Cheat software. The Bots showing up again isn't anything to be worried about, really, because eventually they will get banned.

Unlike other Anti-Cheats, VAC is not and has never been a Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat. Kernel-Level Anti-Cheats such as Vanguard, Easy Anti-Cheat, BattlEye, RICOCHET, nProtect GameGuard, PunkBuster and many others are invasive. They root themselves deep in your system and monitor everything about it. What programs are running, what files are there, so on so forth - to the point where it technically can be considered Spyware or a Rootkit.

VAC, on the other hand, runs when TF2 runs. That's it. When you close the game, VAC is killed with it. It doesn't root itself into your system and it never stays running. This, of course, does come with a downside. Unlike its Kernel-Level brethren, VAC cannot see what is going on with the system, it can really only see what is going on inside of TF2 (or any source game that has VAC) itself. TF2 monitors its memory. If something looks off to the game, the Anti-Cheat gets involved.

VAC also works differently in the sense that, when it detects a cheater, it marks their account to be banned but doesn't ban them right away. It usually waits a bit, usually a few days, before it acts. It monitors the account closely, watching for any more suspicious activity. Could be a one off thing, sure, but either way, VAC waits, and then bans. That way, the cheater doesn't know what cheat actually did them in.

On top of that, VAC bans are permanent and NON-NEGOTIABLE. Once an account is banned in one game, it gets banned in ALL games that run VAC. TF2, CS2, Day of Defeat - just to name a few. VAC also makes a permanent mark on your Steam Account page, stating you were banned for unfair play. And with them being non-negotiable, they are set in stone. Valve WILL NOT remove the ban for simply asking, admitting fault, or demanding it. If it is a genuine mistake on Valve's part for VAC banning you, sure, they will unban you and remove the VAC ban mark from your profile, but that rarely happens... and I mean RARELY.

The main problem that VAC suffers from today, is that VAC uses a list. This list is a programs or cheats or what-have-you that VAC looks for. Only Valve really knows what this list is. You may be asking yourself "how is that a problem?" I can tell you. The list is outdated. Has been for years. Since Jungle Inferno, in fact. With the ever-aging list, there is bound to be programs or cheats that get created that are not detected easily by VAC. On top of that, each VAC supported game has their own lists. TF2 has its own version. CS:GO had its own version before its Source 2 port and so on. When the game stopped getting updates, so did the list for TF2. Yes, CS2 has VAC Live, which is a more modern version of VAC with better cheat detection, but we aren't talking about CS2 or VAC Live.

Is there hope for VAC to get updated? Sure, but it doesn't mean it will. VAC, TF2, and its ever aging system, spaghetti code, and database will not last forever, not in the state the game is in now.

The thing is, even hypothetically, lets just say VAC does get updated, as well as TF2. Cheaters start getting banned, and the worlds happy. It is only a matter of time before a new exploit is found. It isn't a matter of if one is found, it is a matter of WHEN one is found. Cheats and cheaters will never go away. They will always find ways into getting their hacks or hack clients to bypass any system. VAC isn't safe. No game is.

Next time you play a game with an Anti-Cheat, just remember. It is only a matter of time before that wall guarding you from hackers, is broken.