Which one’s the terrorist?
Nick Carr blogs today about concern shown by American intelligence authorities about the security vulnerabilities of increasingly popular virtual worlds such as Second Life. He cites this Washington Post article, which in turn quotes from a newly-issued paper from the “Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity”:
“Unfortunately, what started out as a benign environment where people would congregate to share information or explore fantasy worlds is now offering the opportunity for religious/political extremists to recruit, rehearse, transfer money, and ultimately engage in information warfare or worse with impunity.”
The article goes on to note that the CIA has already set up shop on some “private islands” in Second Life for “meetings and training.” And then there’s this:
Virtual worlds could also become an actual battlefield. The intelligence community has begun contemplating how to use Second Life and other such communities as platforms for cyber weapons that could be used against terrorists or enemies, intelligence officials said. One analyst suggested beginning tests with so-called teams of cyber warfare experts.
As Keanu Reeves would say: “Whoa.”
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user Pathfinder Linden.
Second Life actually terrifies me. I signed on once and never again. Creeps me out. I can’t decide if the CIA being there helps or hurts…