[m1kr0]

NSA reportedly infiltrated Xbox Live and World of Warcraft in hunt for terrorists

" According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and brought
to light today by The Guardian , the NSA has been monitoring
online gaming communities since 2008 and has even been
sending real-life agents into online RPGs posing as players. Xbox
Live was apparently one of the biggest services to be targeted,
while World of Warcraft and Second Life also came under some
degree of scrutiny. It's not totally clear why the NSA, along with
its UK equivalent the GCHQ, thought such operations were
necessary, but there seems to have been a general sense that
online games could be used as communication hubs by evil-
doers, as well as some evidence that Hezbollah had developed its
own game for the purpose of recruitment.
None of the leaked files suggest that the agent-avatars caught
any terrorists, even though undercover operations were
apparently so numerous that, at one point, an NSA analyst called
for a "deconfliction group" to be set up to prevent the agency's
personnel from inadvertently spying on each other. Meanwhile,
Microsoft and Linden Labs have refused to comment, but
Blizzard Entertainment has said it was unaware of any
surveillance taking place in World of Warcraft and certainly has
never granted any permission for its players to be observed. The
Guardian says it'll publish the relevant files later today, in
partnership with the New York Times and ProPublica."

[avt123]

Lol. Gotta get all those kids playing CoD. You never know, some people may think they are Gnome Mages in real life!

[huwit]

What kills me is that the general public does not seem to care about privacy.

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

What kills me is that the general public does not seem to care about privacy.

Is there a reason the general public should care if the NSA knows how many trolls they have killed or how many magic spells they have built up? Many of these games have become social networks in and of themselves... NSA and CIA are information gathers.

Of course it might just be that in order to attract the computer talent, they have to give these guys some "free" time.

[m1kr0]

What I find significant is the extend of the involvement of the NSA. There is not a single corner they are not checking and monitoring. What else are they still busy with that the ordinary Joe is not aware off?

[anon(5818411)]

meh as long as they don't reset my cod account i'm fine:P

[anon(5818411)]

What kills me is that the general public does not seem to care about privacy.

Posted via CB10

what are we going to do about it? They are monitoring the browser you are using right now.

[AluminiumRims]

That's just ridiculous. This whole NSA surveillance is blown out of proportion and news NSA surveillance are starting too look like old sailor stories.

We are fully aware about NSA eavesdropping and the question is who the real power is and what they order NSA to eavesdrop. We know that it isn't terrorists.

Now, there is a flip coin side to the whistle blower Snowden, that he's a plant in order to create distrust between the state and its citizen. This is a well known and old subversion trick.

[qwerty4ever]

Lol. Gotta get all those kids playing CoD. You never know, some people may think they are Gnome Mages in real life!

But what happens when you kill one of these undercover government agents in an online game? Are you labelled as a terrorist?

Posted via CB10

[skibnik]

Got to give it up for the agent who first convinced his or her superiors that playing video games all day and getting paid for it helps homeland security lol

Z10 Running 10.2.1.1055 Take that Mr App Gap!

[TheStoryUp]

No doubt, I should move to the states, get my citizenship and apply for a job at NSA to play xbox all day. Then get fired for not catching any terrorists, move back to Canada and become a whistle blower.

Zed10

[avt123]

But what happens when you kill one of these undercover government agents in an online game? Are you labelled as a terrorist?

Posted via CB10

I'm not sure. Make sure you don't crouch up and down on their face afterwords.

[SubCamp]

Yes let's find all the terrorists in Call of Duty.. hmm

Posted via CB10

[m1kr0]

Yes let's find all the terrorists in Call of Duty.. hmm

Posted via CB10

Ha ha ha now that sounds like fun.

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[avt123]

Yes let's find all the terrorists in Call of Duty.. hmm

Posted via CB10

Just play Counter-Stirke. You can even shoot them.