Government pays spies to play computer games

[pwaldo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...velations.html

The latest revelations from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have taken a bizarre turn with the claim that American and British spies have been posing and playing as orcs and elves on the popular multiplayer online game World of Warcraft - potentially spying on up to 50 million people.

Spy chiefs at the NSA began to fear in 2008 that online games such as Second Life and Warcraft could become forums for covert communications between terrorists - enabling them to move money and to plot atrocities, all the while hiding among the millions of virtual gamers all with online alter-egos.

Newly released documents from the hundreds of thousands stolen by Snowden from the NSA reveal that real secret agents have been operating in virtual gaming worlds tracking millions of players - even going as far as attempting to recruit online informants while playing.

The NSA document, written in 2008 and titled Exploiting Terrorist Use of Games & Virtual Environments expresses the NSA's worry that despite their wide-reaching PRISM clandestine surveillance of hundreds of millions of people online, terrorists could evade their wide reaching snooping.

The Guardian has reported that QCHQ, the British counterpart of the NSA even sent operatives into Second Life in 2008 and infiltrated a criminal ring that was selling stolen credit card information in that virtual world.

The Snowden files reveal that the real-life sting in a virtual world was named Operation Galician and was helped by a recruited online informer who 'helpfully volunteered on the target group's latest activities.'

Citing the documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, the report also says agencies 'have built mass-collection capabilities' against Microsoft's Xbox Live online network.

Important details — such as how much data was gathered, or how many players' information was compromised — were not clear, the reports said.

Blizzard Entertainment, the producer of World Of Warcraft, told the Guardian: ‘We are unaware of any surveillance taking place. If it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or permission.’

Online games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life are huge business as players adopt avatars of different people or indeed, orcs, goblins and elves.

The 2008 NSA report claims that if the intelligence garnered from the spying on these online games was used correctly, then pictures of ordinary citizen's and potential terrorist social networks could be built up.

The NSA document reportedly claims to suggest that such infiltration 'continues to uncover potential Sigint value by identifying accounts, characters and guilds related to Islamic extremist groups, nuclear proliferation and arms dealing.'

Second Life especially intruiged the NSA and GCHQ, because of its plans to introduce voice calls and anonymous texts - that terrorists could utilize.

However, the document revealed by Snowden details no clear indication that the widespread surveillance ever discovered any terrorists or even foiled any attacks - raising serious issues over the privacy of online gaming.

Microsoft declined to comment on the latest revelations, as did Philip Rosedale, the founder of Second Life.

[shrewsbury]

I am surprised people are surprised about this.

[duane1969]

Citing the documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, the report also says agencies 'have built mass-collection capabilities' against Microsoft's Xbox Live online network.

This is something that I have actually thought about. My son has his Xbox 360 set up in the livingroom and he has a Kinect. When the Xbox is on the Kinect automatically turns on, even if it isn't needed for the game being played, and the Xbox connects to the internet, even if the game being played doesn't need internet access. Maybe I am paranoid, but I always found the idea of a camera that has a view of my home being connected to the internet and a server without my control or permission to be disturbing. Needless to say, I only allow him to connect the Kinect if he is playing a game that needs it.

[deansayso]

This is something that I have actually thought about. My son has his Xbox 360 set up in the livingroom and he has a Kinect. When the Xbox is on the Kinect automatically turns on, even if it isn't needed for the game being played, and the Xbox connects to the internet, even if the game being played doesn't need internet access. Maybe I am paranoid, but I always found the idea of a camera that has a view of my home being connected to the internet and a server without my control or permission to be disturbing. Needless to say, I only allow him to connect the Kinect if he is playing a game that needs it.

You gave it permission when you checked the I agree button when you either installed the kinect or signed up for Xbox Live..

I have a 360 as well but no Kinect and am planning on getting an XBone after the first of the year and I'm sure it will have the same agreement. Gotta love the fine print!

[duane1969]

You gave it permission when you checked the I agree button when you either installed the kinect or signed up for Xbox Live..

I have a 360 as well but no Kinect and am planning on getting an XBone after the first of the year and I'm sure it will have the same agreement. Gotta love the fine print!

Yeah I get that, it is just too uncertain for my tastes. At least my webcam is under my control. The Kinect/Xbox does it all on it's own and considering how unsecure I imagine the Microsoft Xbox servers are, it is unsettling how easily someone could hack into them and view into your home.

[pwaldo]

This is something that I have actually thought about. My son has his Xbox 360 set up in the livingroom and he has a Kinect. When the Xbox is on the Kinect automatically turns on, even if it isn't needed for the game being played, and the Xbox connects to the internet, even if the game being played doesn't need internet access. Maybe I am paranoid, but I always found the idea of a camera that has a view of my home being connected to the internet and a server without my control or permission to be disturbing. Needless to say, I only allow him to connect the Kinect if he is playing a game that needs it.

Not being paranoid at all