U.S. and British Spies have Infiltrated the Fantasy Worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life
In another revelation from Edward Snowden's document dump: How U.S. and British spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life, conducting surveillance and scooping up data in the online games played by millions of people across the world.
December 9, 2013
The New York Times - Not limiting their activities to the earthly realm, American and British
spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and
Second Life, conducting surveillance and scooping up data in the online
games played by millions of people across the globe, according to newly
disclosed classified documents.
Fearing that terrorist or criminal networks could use the games to
communicate secretly, move money or plot attacks, the documents show,
intelligence operatives have entered terrain populated by digital
avatars that include elves, gnomes and supermodels.
The spies have created make-believe characters to snoop and to try to
recruit informers, while also collecting data and contents of
communications between players, according to the documents, disclosed by
the former
National Security Agency
contractor Edward J. Snowden. Because militants often rely on features
common to video games — fake identities, voice and text chats, a way to
conduct financial transactions — American and British intelligence
agencies worried that they might be operating there, according to the
papers.
Online games might seem innocuous, a top-secret 2008 N.S.A. document
warned, but they had the potential to be a “target-rich communication
network” allowing intelligence suspects “a way to hide in plain sight.”
Virtual games “are an opportunity!” another 2008 N.S.A. document
declared.
But for all their enthusiasm — so many C.I.A., F.B.I. and Pentagon spies
were hunting around in Second Life, the document noted, that a
“deconfliction” group was needed to avoid collisions — the intelligence
agencies may have inflated the threat.
The documents, obtained by
The Guardian
and shared with The New York Times and ProPublica, do not cite any
counterterrorism successes from the effort. Former American intelligence
officials, current and former gaming company employees and outside
experts said in interviews that they knew of little evidence that
terrorist groups viewed the games as havens to communicate and plot
operations.
Games “are built and operated by companies looking to make money, so the
players’ identity and activity is tracked,” said Peter W. Singer of the
Brookings Institution, an author of “Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What
Everyone Needs to Know.” “For terror groups looking to keep their
communications secret, there are far more effective and easier ways to
do so than putting on a troll avatar.”
The surveillance, which also included Microsoft’s Xbox Live, could raise
privacy concerns. It is not clear exactly how the agencies got access
to gamers’ data or communications, how many players may have been
monitored or whether Americans’ communications or activities were
captured.
One American company, the maker of World of Warcraft, said that neither
the N.S.A. nor its British counterpart, the Government Communications
Headquarters, had gotten permission to gather intelligence in its game.
Many players are Americans, who can be targeted for surveillance only
with approval from the nation’s secret intelligence court. The spy
agencies, though, face far fewer restrictions on collecting certain data
or communications overseas.
"We are unaware of any surveillance taking place," said a spokesman for
Blizzard Entertainment, based in Irvine, Calif., which makes World of
Warcraft. "If it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or
permission."
A spokeswoman for Microsoft declined to comment. Philip Rosedale, the
founder of Second Life and a former chief executive officer of Linden
Lab, the game’s maker, declined to comment on the spying revelations.
Current Linden executives did not respond to requests for comment.
A Government Communications Headquarters spokesman would neither confirm
nor deny any involvement by that agency in gaming surveillance, but
said that its work is conducted under “a strict legal and policy
framework” with rigorous oversight. An N.S.A. spokeswoman declined to
comment.
Intelligence and law enforcement officials became interested in games
after some became enormously popular, drawing tens of millions of people
worldwide, from preteens to retirees. The games rely on lifelike
graphics, virtual currencies and the ability to speak to other players
in real time. Some gamers merge the virtual and real worlds by spending
long hours playing and making close online friends.
In
World of Warcraft, players
share the same fantasy universe — walking around and killing
computer-controlled monsters or the avatars of other players, including
elves, animals or creatures known as orcs. In
Second Life,
players create customized human avatars that can resemble themselves or
take on other personas — supermodels and bodybuilders are popular — who
can socialize, buy and sell virtual goods, and go places like beaches,
cities, art galleries and strip clubs. In Microsoft’s Xbox Live service,
subscribers connect online in games that can involve activities like
playing soccer or shooting at each other in space.
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