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Last updated on June 18, 2013 at 17:38 EDT

Terrorists Using Online Games Undetected by CIA and NSA

April 12, 2011

SCHIEDAM, Netherlands and NEW YORK, April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –
Despite billions of dollars spent by intelligence agencies like NSA and CIA
on technologies to intercept and monitor electronic messages and
communications, terrorists all over the world are able to communicate without
fear of discovery, using online computer games.

The CIA tentatively acknowledged this threat in its 2008 Data Mining
Report and started the Reynard Project as a “seedling effort” to detect
suspicious behaviour and actions in the virtual world. Although online gaming
has exploded and hundreds of millions of people participate in these games,
not much has been heard about the Reynard Project since.

Recently the danger of terrorists using computer games as a secure
communication channel led to alarming news articles by major newspapers in
Europe, following the release of the technothriller MMORPG: How a computer
game becomes deadly serious.

Dutchman Emile van Veen spent two years researching how terrorists could
utilise so called Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs).
These online games appear to be an unbreakable code for intelligence agencies
and offer communication channels like email, chat and voice chat. They are
violent by nature, making it virtually impossible to detect dangerous
conversations. They can be accessed from any computer, anywhere, by using
anonymous accounts. Van Veen’s story is set in both the real and the virtual
world, a novel concept in itself. Emile van Veen: “Especially reproductions
of our real world are dangerous. Someone who wants to blow up the Brooklyn
Bridge could examine the target in detail and scout his way in and out as
well.” He thinks the danger is imminent.

After the release of his thriller in Europe, Van Veen received a lot of
worried press attention. “Many people accused me of bringing this to the
attention of terrorists and criminals. That’s unfair, it’s already there. The
Intelligence Community must act and they must act fast. I hope my novel helps
in bringing about a sense of urgency,” he says.

http://www.emilevanveen.com

SOURCE Safe Haven Investments BV


Source: newswire