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Pentagon presents hypothetical terrorist plot in WoW
A number of readers wrote in to tell us about a 'hypothetical WoW-hatched terror plot' from the Pentagon, which Wired posted just last night. The scenario detailed in the presentation given by Dr. Dwight V. Toavs is meant to display how terrorists could potentially use the pseudonymity of an MMO combined with the obscure gamer lingo to hide a terrorist plot within the massive, mostly unmonitored (by them) playerbase. This isn't the first time we've heard about the government looking to virtual worlds for potential terrorist hideouts, but it's the most ridiculous.The presented scenario is as follows (summarized; full version at Wired): Two WoW players, WAR_MONGER and TALON238 meet up to plot. WAR_MONGER lays out the plan: They will approach via the South East of the Zoram Strand, and assault the 'White Keep' using a 'Dragon Fire' spell in their inventory. They will kill all of the 'castle guards' and when they've entered the keep, they will acquire their treasure of 110 gold, 234 silver.Translation: These two terrorists will meet South East of the White House (the White Keep) and take out all of the security before sneaking a weapon of some sort through. The 'treasure' is the coordinates for their attack.
Fictional WoW terrorism plot detailed
Just how would terrorists plan an attack through an online virtual world like World of Warcraft using actual game lingo to mask their true intents? This isn't the premise for an episode of 24, although the writers of that show may want to start taking notes. Pentagon researchers have been trying to answer this premise and recently revealed a possible scenario, which comes off as even more absurd. Apparently, terrorists could use character names such as "WAR_MONGER" and "TALON238". Their primary form of coded chatter would be in-game World of Warcraft lingo. These digital terrorists discuss the "Stonetalon Mountains" where the "White Castle" resides, which they plan to attack with a recently acquired "Dragon Fire" spell.The entire idea is questionable at best and outright dumb at worst. What's even more stupifying is that most of the WoW terminology isn't even correct. So now we're dealing with wild-eyed, out of touch researchers who can't even do their jobs correctly. Besides, everyone knows the terrorists would just use Vent servers anyhow.
