NSA And GCHQ Targets World Of Warcraft And Xbox Live – Snowden
British and US agents search video games for intelligence, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden
The US National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain’s GGCHQ both infiltrated a number of popular video games and online gaming services, including World of Warcraft, Second Life and Xbox Live in the hope of obtaining intelligence, according to the latest documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
An alleged 2008 document published by The Guardian entitled ‘Exploiting Terrorist Use of Games & Virtual Environments’ claimed that video games were a “target rich communications network” in which potential intelligence targets could “hide in plain sight.”
The document described the medium as an opportunity, which if properly exploited, could be used to obtain information about potential terrorist threats and suspects, such as profile pictures and locations, while the headsets and cameras offered the chance of acquiring information that was hard to come by via traditional communications, such as voice and video.
NSA World of Warcraft
It is suggested that there were so many agents operating on video games that the project required a “de-confliction group” to ensure agents weren’t spying on other agents. But despite the fears that terrorists were using online gaming to communicate, the document did not indicate that the scheme had resulted in any malicious plots being foiled.
It is unclear how agents accessed the information and who was targeted and the alleged revelation is likely to concern gamers, especially since US citizens could have been spied upon as their nationality could have been concealed by their online gaming profile.
World of Warcraft publisher Blizzard told the newspaper that no agency had requested permission to operate on its service, while Microsoft and Second Life developer Linden Labs declined to comment.
Recent reports suggested that the communications of Britons were being monitored by the NSA as part of a secret deal negotiated with GCHQ, providing the strongest evidence yet that UK citizens have been targeted by US mass-surveillance programmes.
Snowden is temporarily residing in Russia, after he made headlines across the world in May when he revealed the existence of several highly intrusive electronic surveillance projects run by the US government and its allies, including PRISM, which gives the NSA access to user accounts through secret court orders. He now reportedly has a new job providing technical support for a Russian website.
