"Kevin Zuccato, head of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre in Canberra, says terrorists can gain training in games such as World of Warcraft in a simulated environment, using weapons that are identical to real-world armaments."

You know, somehow, I don't think terrorists are going to be using many swords, bows, lightning bolts or fireballs.

Posted by: Jonas Salk at August 2, 2007 12:19 AM

Airports need to start screening for this immediately. In particular they need to look out for Al Qaeda trained affliction/demonology warlocks. Those guys are way OP and I reckon they'll need at least one tank, a caster and a healer of appropriate level in the screening lounge just in case.

Posted by: bondo at August 2, 2007 12:31 AM

This article more or less echoes what I posted here http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017610.php#comments

just a few minutes ago. Terrorism on the Internet is still terrorism but we must not let it distract us from real-world terrorism. It may give us some insights but it is not the real thing.

Posted by: OliverPCamford at August 2, 2007 12:47 AM

We should never have given them access to higher technology tha the ball-bearing axle.

This just means we'll have to kill more of them in This Life.

(Their Second Life will then be a little hotter for their 'avatar' than they expect.)

Posted by: profitsbeard at August 2, 2007 1:12 AM

You know, somehow, I don't think terrorists are going to be using many swords, bows, lightning bolts or fireballs.
Posted by: Jonas Salk

Since Harry Potter is a Zionist Plot as we've learned out of Iran..

Posted by: Allahfanculo at August 2, 2007 3:40 AM

Not to Worry. Gnomeland Security will keep Azeroth safe!

Posted by: Ursus Maritimus at August 2, 2007 3:41 AM

Well experienced with some of these knobs. I have even interviewed some of the terrorists on my show Dodging Reality.

The only good thing about it is that it is possible to make quite a bit of money doing security and counter-terrorism in SL.

Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge at August 2, 2007 4:59 AM

Proxies upon proxies.

There must be a war game somewhere: find the jihadi and destroy him.

Will allow the jihadi to vicariously run with the hounds.

How about a game: find the evil in the koran.

Or: locate the jihadi in the haystack.

Or: locate the commie lawyer in the beltway (hint: does he work for the DNC, CAIR, and MoveON.org)

Posted by: dgene at August 2, 2007 7:08 AM

This doesn't surprise me at all after having read the article at this link below.

This piece from the technology section explains:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22161037-28737,00.html

Virtual terrorists
Hunted in reality, jihadists are turning to artificial online worlds such as Second Life to train and recruit members, writes Natalie O'Brien | July 31, 2007

I didn't post it that day, didn't think it would rate here, but I underestimated.

Posted by: Gramfan at August 2, 2007 7:40 AM

I think someone is horribly confused.

Second Life is a popular virtual world. I'm sure there are virtual "terror campaigns" there all the time, like somebody spawning giant penises everywhere or something. Scary. I suppose terrorists could use SL to practise or plan attacks by making a virtual replica of their target, but they could do that in a million different ways. I also wonder if SL is really a secure place for planning terror attacks, seeing as how it's akin to doing it in a shopping mall rather than in a private home. SL is a closed service provided by a corporation, so they have absolute control over it.

World of Warcraft is unlikely to contain "weapons that are identical to real-world armaments" seeing as how it's a roleplaying game set in a fantasy world where the primary method of killing people is either hitting them with a sword or casting a spell. The game has absolutely zero value for someone who wants to practise military skills.

There are of course many realistic or semi-realistic video games that could conceivably teach you a limited amount of military skills, mainly tactics, but terrorists have actual training camps with real weapons, and others practise with paintball or airsoft guns which are obviously superior to video games.

All the article really says is that terrorists use computers and the Internet. Just like everyone else.

Posted by: Jesus Christ Supercop at August 2, 2007 7:53 AM

LOL...and all this time I thought it was just rank-&-file WOWers that didn't have a life.

Posted by: jcom972 at August 2, 2007 8:13 AM

Speaking of proxies and virtual terrorists, at the risk of some shameless promotion of the site linked in my username, I can offer this much:

YouTube hosts huge numbers of 'dijihadis' or digital jihadis who upload everything from screeds by Bin Laden, Zawahiri, Zarqawi, etc. all the way up to collections of real-world footage of IED's going off under Coalition vehicles, sniper videos (even the cartoon variety, captured from combat video games), and all manner of anti-war, anti-american, death-cult propaganda that actually makes the stuff coming from the Democrats in Congress seem tame.

Although, if we're talking about anti-war, sheer snuff-flick, corpse-compilation, gruesomely-mangled children footage, and this is all Bush's fault stuff - well then, our own college crowd of wannabe film students takes the lead there.

Pretty much all of which qualify as violations of YouTube's own policies. Sometimes YouTube takes those down when we flag them, sometimes they don't. At present, we're running about 15% success rate. Remember, these are the same people that removed videos from Nick Gisburne, the athiest who simply posted a video reading from some of the more, erm, harsh bits of the Koran. Or removed Michelle Malkin's Vent 'First They Came' because it showed Theo Van Gogh's body (under a sheet) for graphic violence.

YouTube may not be training terrorists online, but they're hosting the recruiters.

Posted by: Rickbert at August 2, 2007 8:46 AM

Jesus Christ Supercop:
I think someone is horribly confused. All the article really says is that terrorists use computers and the Internet.

The talk of "real-world armaments" in WoW - whether this was the security guy's remark or the journo's interpretation - shows just how far out of touch are the intelligence world and the MSM.

It misses the true threat posed by online worlds, which is that they offer real world terrorists a tool for totally secure private communication.

Chatrooms can be monitored, emails intercepted, telephones bugged. But you can have a whispered conversation deep in the wilds of Azeroth in complete privacy.

The story seems like scare-mongering, but the opportunities such games offer terrorists are very real.

BTW - "Gnomeland Security" - Ha! Very good, Ursus.

Posted by: Matamoros at August 2, 2007 9:28 AM

No, I don't think WoW or any similiar game is secure enough for illegal activities. All the game servers are hosted by the developers who can log all private conversations if they want to. All the players must also register an account and pay for it.

There are secure, encrypted methods of communication on the Internet that don't rely on a third party to host and possibly log your conversation (which is what happens in WoW or in a public chat room). For instance, there's ScatterChat which is a secure and anonymous chat program.

And yeah, Gnomeland Security sounds funny.

Posted by: Jesus Christ Supercop at August 2, 2007 11:58 AM

Wait until the SL Jihadists figure out that they can fly themselves into virtual buildings instead of having to hijack a plane!

Perhaps they also have discovered that there are more than 72 virgins in SL.

-XRDC

Posted by: XRDC at August 2, 2007 12:31 PM

hmmm... I'd be more concerned with the modifying/building of their own maps/simulations for games like counter strike/ half life/ battlefront I&II... talk about training potential... a complete site mock up with the AI tune to high and you can run through scenarios over and over with potential to highlight weaknesses in the plan... all password protected and networked via our internet... opps, have I just let the cat out of the bag... my bad... I'd include Darth Vader in the star wars battlefront trainer... just in case... haha

Posted by: SomeJerk at August 2, 2007 1:53 PM

Yes, they could use a game's freely available development tools to construct a replica of their target, and then memorize the layout or even practise assaulting it (which may or may not be useful).

But there's nothing anyone can do about that. The technology is there and anyone can use it, whether it's encrypted e-mail, video games or explosives triggered by cell phones.

Posted by: Jesus Christ Supercop at August 2, 2007 3:41 PM

True Supercop... I just thought it was more realistic than the WOW Thunderbolts and second life premise of the article... I wonder much how both sides have really thought about it? Do you figure the west has really analyzed it and the rest basically just have maybe an idea and are learning as they go...?

Posted by: SomeJerk at August 2, 2007 3:54 PM

so 'cos i finished "call of duty" on both mac and pc, does that make me special forces in the real world?

they really train on "half life"? ahhh. so that's why they are so crap!

Posted by: leonthepigfarmer at August 2, 2007 4:08 PM