NSA spying on online gamers across the world: Report

NSA spying on online gamers across the world: Report

World's most powerful espionage agencies sent undercover agents into virtual universes to monitor activity.

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Virtual universes like World of Warcraft can be massively popular, drawing in millions of players who log months' worth of real-world time competing with other players for online glory, virtual treasure, and magical loot. At its height, World of Warcraft boasted some 12 million paying subscribers, more than the population of Greece. Other virtual worlds, like Linden Labs' Second Life or the various games hosted by Microsoft's Xbox - home to the popular science fiction-themed shoot-em-up Halo - host millions more.






At the request of GCHQ, the NSA began extracting World of Warcraft data from its global intelligence haul, trying to tie specific accounts and characters to Islamic extremism and arms dealing efforts, the Guardian reported. Intelligence on the fantasy world could eventually translate to real-world espionage success, one of the documents suggested, noting that World of Warcraft subscribers included "telecom engineers, embassy drivers, scientists, the military and other intelligence agencies."

World of Warcraft wasn't the only target. Another memo noted that GCHQ had "successfully been able to get the discussions between different game players on Xbox Live." Meanwhile, so many US spies were roaming around Second Life that a special "deconfliction" unit was set up to prevent them from stepping on each other's toes.

Blizzard Entertainment is part of Santa Monica, California-based Activision Blizzard.

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