U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft

[NoStateofMind]

U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft

Be careful who you frag. Having eliminated all terrorism in the real world, the U.S. intelligence community is working to develop software that will detect violent extremists infiltrating World of Warcraft and other massive multiplayer games, according to a data-mining report from the Director of National Intelligence.

The Reynard project will begin by profiling online gaming behavior, then potentially move on to its ultimate goal of "automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world."

* The cultural and behavioral norms of virtual worlds and gaming are generally unstudied. Therefore, Reynard will seek to identify the emerging social, behavioral and cultural norms in virtual worlds and gaming environments. The project would then apply the lessons learned to determine the feasibility of automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world.

* If it shows early promise, this small seedling effort may increase its scope to a full project.

Reynard will conduct unclassified research in a public virtual world environment. The research will use publicly available data and will begin with observational studies to establish baseline normative behaviors.

The publicly available report -- which was mandated by Congress following earlier concerns over data-mining programs -- also mentions several other data-mining initiatives. These include:

* Video Analysis and Content Extraction - software to automatically identify faces, events and objects in video

* Tangram - A system that wants to create surveillance and threat warning system that evaluates known threats and finds unknown threats to issue warnings ahead of an attack

* Knowledge Discovery and Dissemination - This tool is reminiscent of the supposedly-defunct Total Information Awareness program. It seeks to access disparate databases to find patterns of known bad behavior. The program plans to work with domestic law enforcement and Homeland Security.

The report gives no indication why the find-a-terrorist cell in Sims project is called Reynard, though that is a traditional trickster figure in literature.

Gee, you can't even game without being profiled. There is a lot of fear mongering coming from Washington, which I think, is self created. Spying on American citizens is getting more common.

 

[Fingolfin269]

This is awesome. I clicked the link thinking it would lead to The Onion...

 

[sandorski]

So many CS kiddies are gonna be in the FBI files that it'll create Work for 100's more. Awesome! Think of the Career opportunities!!

 

[blackangst1]

Thats fine. I have my "Robe of Undetection" that has 100% detection resistance. They'll never find me!

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Some poor WoW addicted slob in middle management was sitting around one day trying to figure out how to quell his withdrawl symptoms while at work...

:light: BINGO! There are terrorists in WoW! (No, really)

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: sandorski
So many CS kiddies are gonna be in the FBI files that it'll create Work for 100's more. Awesome! Think of the Career opportunities!!

Every time the terrorist team wins, the FBI arrests them all. :laugh:

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: sandorski
So many CS kiddies are gonna be in the FBI files that it'll create Work for 100's more. Awesome! Think of the Career opportunities!!

Every time the terrorist team wins, the FBI arrests them all. :laugh:

..and CS TK'ers(I fully support this!! )

 

[palehorse]

Actually, this new angle has more to do with Second Life than Worlds of Warcraft, but it's certainly just as feasible in either "game." Our enemies are coming up with new and highly technical methods to thwart our efforts, every day, so it shouldnt surprise anybody that they're utilizing software tools; which, by their very nature, make users somewhat anonymous.

I'm not sure where these types of studies and investigations will lead, but it's certainly an interesting twist in anti-terrorism. First it was email.. then they shifted to IRC... and now it's virtual worlds like WoW and Second Life. What next!?

I just wish we all knew who they were so that we could zerg and camp them until they log out! LOL!

Would some of you have us just ignore them?

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: palehorse74
Would some of you have us just ignore them?

For as much as you try to come off as a macho military guy, you sure are a big pussy. Do you still worry about the monsters under your bed getting you as you sleep soundly in your Elmo footy pajamas?

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: palehorse74
Would some of you have us just ignore them?

For as much as you try to come off as a macho military guy, you sure are a big pussy. Do you still worry about the monsters under your bed getting you as you sleep soundly in your Elmo footy pajamas?

wtf does that have to do with terrorists who may or may not be gathering to plan and discuss terrorism, while logged into virtual worlds such as WoW and Second Life? What was your point?

I killed the last monster I found sleeping under my bed, and I will kill the next one too. Oh, and my Elmo footies are comfy... so back off and try to stick to the topic of the thread you know-nothing civilian assh0le.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: palehorse74
Would some of you have us just ignore them?

For as much as you try to come off as a macho military guy, you sure are a big pussy. Do you still worry about the monsters under your bed getting you as you sleep soundly in your Elmo footy pajamas?

But if we don't live our lives in fear, then the terrorists don't win.

Oh wait..

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: palehorse74
Would some of you have us just ignore them?

For as much as you try to come off as a macho military guy, you sure are a big pussy. Do you still worry about the monsters under your bed getting you as you sleep soundly in your Elmo footy pajamas?

But if we don't live our lives in fear, then the terrorists don't win.

Oh wait..

hey, nitwits, nobody said anything about "fear." This is simply a discussion of an otherwise interesting development -- that is, potential enemies are meeting and discussing terrorism in 3D virtual worlds.

If anything, this speaks to modern law enforcement and intelligence agencies being on the ball! They (we) were smart enough to notice this new development. To me, that's a good thing, and a sign that our money is being well spent on both!

Here's a wild concept: try joining in to discuss this new development, and what legal repercussions there may be when investigating suspects in virtual worlds.

Have anything constructive to share? Or, would you two mind taking your little propaganda circle-jerk elsewhere?

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: palehorse74
Actually, this new angle has more to do with Second Life than Worlds of Warcraft, but it's certainly just as feasible in either "game." Our enemies are coming up with new and highly technical methods to thwart our efforts, every day, so it shouldnt surprise anybody that they're utilizing software tools; which, by their very nature, make users somewhat anonymous.

I'm not sure where these types of studies and investigations will lead, but it's certainly an interesting twist in anti-terrorism. First it was email.. then they shifted to IRC... and now it's virtual worlds like WoW and Second Life. What next!?

I just wish we all knew who they were so that we could zerg and camp them until they log out! LOL!

Would some of you have us just ignore them?

Some of us would have us stand up for justice for all in the world, and to have our nation stop wronging others, and greatly reduce the number of enemies.

Some of us would have us protect our liberties at the same time as pursuing responsible defense, not sacrificing more and more liberties for the ever-elusive 'more security'.

I posted before, controversially, that I'd rather see a moderate number of casualties from terrorism in the US, than to see our liberties wiped out. Many righties disagreed.

It's odd how much they righties love the tear-jerk phrases about the risks you take for liberty, but oppose actually doing so.

We should be working more on the structure of power to protect liberty in the modern world, with the US facing economic challenges from nations lacking liberty, than this crap.

 

[Moonbeam]

I may be crazy but I don't get a sense they are looking for terrorists in gaming worlds. I got the impression they were going to see if they could use game worlds as a way to develop tools that could identify odd behavior in the real world by developing and using those tools in a game. In other words, I thought they would use the game to see if they could figure out how to apply things that work there to real life where real terrorists are.

And maybe they'll target the f-ing gold farmers.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
I may be crazy but I don't get a sense they are looking for terrorists in gaming worlds. I got the impression they were going to see if they could use game worlds as a way to develop tools that could identify odd behavior in the real world by developing and using those tools in a game. In other words, I thought they would use the game to see if they could figure out how to apply things that work there to real life where real terrorists are.

And maybe they'll target the f-ing gold farmers.

LOL I don't play WoW, but I am guessing that is a reference.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
I may be crazy but I don't get a sense they are looking for terrorists in gaming worlds. I got the impression they were going to see if they could use game worlds as a way to develop tools that could identify odd behavior in the real world by developing and using those tools in a game. In other words, I thought they would use the game to see if they could figure out how to apply things that work there to real life where real terrorists are.

And maybe they'll target the f-ing gold farmers.

LOL I don't play WoW, but I am guessing that is a reference.

People who play WOW to make game gold to sell for real dollars. They spam ads and suck up resources people playing for fun have thus more trouble finding. They violate the game agreement and generally spoil it for people who play fair. You can work your ass off, for example, earning a flying mount, or buy one for a few hundred bucks. You can also pay others to level your character.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
I may be crazy but I don't get a sense they are looking for terrorists in gaming worlds. I got the impression they were going to see if they could use game worlds as a way to develop tools that could identify odd behavior in the real world by developing and using those tools in a game. In other words, I thought they would use the game to see if they could figure out how to apply things that work there to real life where real terrorists are.

And maybe they'll target the f-ing gold farmers.

LOL I don't play WoW, but I am guessing that is a reference.

People who play WOW to make game gold to sell for real dollars. They spam ads and suck up resources people playing for fun have thus more trouble finding. They violate the game agreement and generally spoil it for people who play fair. You can work your ass off, for example, earning a flying mount, or buy one for a few hundred bucks. You can also pay others to level your character.

This was an even more nefarious problem in Everquest than in WoW, because there was more an element of 'prestige' early on in game achievement that was reduced by cheaters, and more importantly, there were limited game resources - high end raid spots were not instanced, and there were only so many spots in top guilds to go to them. In fact, this raised some very interesting issues in the player communities on how to cooperate or not cooperate to handle the issue of competitive content.

In WoW, it's more nearly a victimeless crime other than the player not getting the satisfaction of earning what they get, but there's still some harm as you mention, such as in the 'first come, first serve' nodes being taken by people for profit who otherwise would leave them for non-cheating players.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Damn, we will have to be extra careful when carrying out our covert-ops against Ironforge now! :laugh:

 

[Balt]

Sounds like they have too much money in their budget and they need to make sure they spend it so their funding isn't cut.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: Balt
Sounds like they have too much money in their budget and they need to make sure they spend it so their funding isn't cut.

:thumbsup:

 

[magomago]

oh noes. now all the terrarists will switch to dark age of camelot or final fantasy online.

although the best place to secretly trade plans is start wars galaxies cause it sucks so much that no one pays attention to it

 

[ericlp]

What did they finally fix the internet connection so they could play WOW?

I dunno, if this really is true ... It's not really a laughing matter since it's pretty disturbing what are government can and will do in the name of Terror word...

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: ericlp
What did they finally fix the internet connection so they could play WOW?

I dunno, if this really is true ... It's not really a laughing matter since it's pretty disturbing what are government can and will do in the name of Terror word...

if what is true? trying to infiltrate online terrorist groups, without subverting civil liberties, in an effort to prevent the next 9/11?

I damn sure hope it's true!

The terrorists will not be given ANY safe havens... even virtual ones!

And, as long as our efforts to find them are legal, then fvck anyone who gets in our way or tries to stop us.

 

[ranmaniac]

The fact that we're hearing about this publicly now, I'd say they've already been doing surveillance of WoW/MMORPGs for some time now, though perhaps on a smaller scale.

 

[brxndxn]

The government always finds new ways to waste our tax dollars..