Splicetoday

Digital
Sep 16, 2008, 08:14AM

Un. Real. (...or too real?)

Pentagon. World of Warcraft. Terrorist plots.

Osctoavs2.jpg?ixlib=rails 2.1

There's been no public proof to date of terrorists hatching plots in virtual worlds. But online spaces like World of Warcraft are making some spooks, generals and Congressmen extremely nervous. They imagine terrorists rehearsing attacks in these worlds, just like the U.S. military trains with commercial shoot-em-up games. They worry that the massively multiplayer games make it incredibly easy to gather plotters from around the world. But, mostly, virtual worlds are nerve-wracking to spies because they're so hard to monitor. The accounts are pseudonymous. The access is global. The jargon is thick. And most of the spy agencies' employees aren't exactly level-70 shamans.

Discussion

Register or Login to leave a comment