NationStates Jolt Archive

U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft
By Ryan Singel EmailFebruary 22, 2008 | 2:15:43 PMCategories: Spooks Gone Wild

Virtual_osama_full 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."
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/nations-spies-w.html

Huzzah huzzah! :rolleyes: Be careful you don't get profiled on Wow, kiddies.

I wonder if gankers, looters and pvp raid groups will be considered "suspicious".

They really need girlfriends...

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.

this could be interesting, come to think of it I wonder what science would think of NSg :eek:

They really need girlfriends...

you want them to get patronizing best friends...who happen to be female?!

like thats not the case :p

no, multiple girlfriend-as-in-romantically-involved-s.

One girl ain't enough (assuming they can get a girl)

One girl ain't enough.:D where did I hear this?

Marriage is like Cable.. with one channel.

Without a doubt, one of the more dumbassed boondoggles this government has come up with. The article doesn't mention how much this "Reynard" crap is going to cost, but I will be willing to bet it is an insane amount which would be much better spent on almost anything but having intelligence agents play WoW. And when they expand the program, where will they wander? Puzzle Pirates, perhaps?

One girl ain't enough (assuming they can get a girl)

don't hate the playa, hate the game :cool:

Without a doubt, one of the more dumbassed boondoggles this government has come up with. The article doesn't mention how much this "Reynard" crap is going to cost, but I will be willing to bet it is an insane amount which would be much better spent on almost anything but having intelligence agents play WoW. And when they expand the program, where will they wander? Puzzle Pirates, perhaps?

maybe its an elaborate plot cooked up by the FBI to avoid work

*FBI agent is caught by boss playing WoW*

"er...I'm doing research"

this would also work for porn :)

And when they expand the program, where will they wander? Puzzle Pirates, perhaps?
Personally, I use Peggle to train for the downfall of the Western Infidel.

just another action from the police state

This is a very scary thought.

you could be in the home, sitting in your dark room, naked maybe, playing WoW. The next thing you know, you find yourself no longer alone, the goverment has come into your bedroom, thinking that you were a 'terrorist' and they find you naked, yet they take you away for questioning.
The government these days....

Talk about embarassing D:

How long before The Horde is classified as an Al'Qaeda Internet Cell?

this would also work for porn :)

How do you think their sex crimes department works?

Suddenly the anti porn laws make sense.:D

Personally, I use Peggle to train for the downfall of the Western Infidel.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2280-Zero-Punctuation-Peggle

Really? Seems like Peggle is the perfect way to confine all the infidels to their homes while you take over the country. :p

Although personally, I'm waiting until the National Security Agency holds a press conference declaring a new threat to American Security:

The Brotherhood of Nod.

maybe its an elaborate plot cooked up by the FBI to avoid work

*FBI agent is caught by boss playing WoW*

"er...I'm doing research"

this would also work for porn :)

OK, when you put it that way, it makes sense. ;)

They really need girlfriends...

The people who play WoW or the people who spy on WoW?

The people who play WoW or the people who spy on WoW?

Both.

The guys spying on them!

After all, who has that kind of time?

Both.

I dispute this. I play WoW, and I manifestly do not need a girlfriend. :p

Damn right their are terrorists in WoW, it's those damn elf lvl 60s who keep attacking the Crossroads and killing newbs.

I dispute this. I play WoW, and I manifestly do not need a girlfriend. :p

Sure you do ;)



* leers*

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/nations-spies-w.html

Huzzah huzzah! :rolleyes: Be careful you don't get profiled on Wow, kiddies.

Interesting...

Admittedly, from their point of view, it's a good idea. You'd be surprised by how easy it is to transfer information in these games. It'd be a superb way of communicating without anyone knowing.

Unless, of course, they're tapped.

But I think it's a little pointless at the moment. There's just far too much information in these games to try to monitor it all. Information overload will make us much less effective.

Ha, I'm still safe plotting the downfall of western civilization on Team Fortress 2, now if you guys would stop spamming sentries...

Leeroy Jenkins is a terrorist.

It's about time something was done.

As long as they don't use software or anything like that to find out who is behind the avatars, I don't really have a problem with that. I don't see what they plan on getting out of this. Terrorists don't play WoW AFAIK. MAybe they're just getting a foothold on the internet?

maybe its an elaborate plot cooked up by the FBI to avoid work

*FBI agent is caught by boss playing WoW*

"er...I'm doing research"

this would also work for porn :)

That's gotta be one of the best conspiracy theories I've heard in a long time. :)

Leeroy Jenkins is a terrorist.

It's about time something was done.

OSAAAAAMA BIIIN LAAAAADEN!!!

As long as they don't use software or anything like that to find out who is behind the avatars, I don't really have a problem with that. I don't see what they plan on getting out of this. Terrorists don't play WoW AFAIK. Maybe they're just getting a foothold on the internet?
The Feds probably are beta-testing some system for finding terrorists that they hope to use offline later in development. By using WoW for now, they can start working on handling the technical issues, without having to worry about stuff like how they could legally spy on a huge crowd of people IRL.

Also they are probably hoping for a more limited environment than they can get offline...it'd be a lot easier to find the in-game social connections and behavior patterns of those in what amounts to a closed community, compared to trying to do the same thing in RL, where there are exponentially more possible combinations.

Fergi America;13477600']The Feds probably are beta-testing some system for finding terrorists that they hope to use offline later in development. By using WoW for now, they can start working on handling the technical issues, without having to worry about stuff like how they could legally spy on a huge crowd of people IRL.

Also they are probably hoping for a more limited environment than they can get offline...it'd be a lot easier to find the in-game social connections and behavior patterns of those in what amounts to a closed community, compared to trying to do the same thing in RL, where there are exponentially more possible combinations.

If the findings are published publicly, I've no problem. The Internet is a Social Science farm that has yet to be harvested.

I just had an image of a suicide bomber yelling "LEEEEROY JENKINS!" before he pulls the cord.

I just had an image of a suicide bomber yelling "LEEEEROY JENKINS!" before he pulls the cord.

No, he yells that first. Then he takes a bite out of his chicken. THEN only, does he pull the cord.

I dispute this. I play WoW, and I manifestly do not need a girlfriend. :p

it would be hot though...

If the findings are published publicly, I've no problem. The Internet is a Social Science farm that has yet to be harvested. While I agree with your second statement, I don't think the government will be the one doing the publicly-viewable studies. Spy agencies don't usually publish their findings publicly while they're still relevant...at least not *intentionally...*

They really need girlfriends...

lol

I heard Blizzard are going to release a new character in commemoration of this; The Jihad.

Abilities Include:
Tag As Infidel
Summon Weapons Bunker
Run Into The Alliance With Bombs Strapped On You
And who could forget,
Hijack A Flying Mount And Fly It Into The Two Towers.

That's an overpowered hunter/mage/warlock you got there.

I heard Blizzard are going to release a new character in commemoration of this; The Jihad.

Abilities Include:
Tag As Infidel
Summon Weapons Bunker
Run Into The Alliance With Bombs Strapped On You
And who could forget,
Hijack A Flying Mount And Fly It Into The Two Towers.

As opposed to actually doing their job our government has commanded those who can truly defend us to sticking their heads in the ground. :: sigh ::

No, he yells that first. Then he takes a bite out of his chicken. THEN only, does he pull the cord.

:D

He didn't do it for the virgins, he did it for the chicken. :p

Wow!

Curses, foiled again!:mad:

Maybe they can fund the program by becoming gold farmers :p

:D

LEEERRROOYYYY JEEEEEENNNKIIIIINNNSSS!!! *chomp chomp* *BOOM!*

:p

Oh goody... more n00bs. Just what we need.

I just had an image of a suicide bomber yelling "LEEEEROY JENKINS!" before he pulls the cord.

Of course if the bomber pulls a Leeroy Jenkins it probably means he just blew up his own cell.