He may be dead, but the threat from Osama Bin-Laden lives on in cyberspace according to British and American intelligence services. They believe the Al-Qaeda leader could spread propaganda using in-game avatars.
The 126-page study called “3D Cyberspace Spillover: Where Virtual Worlds Get Real,” was released under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Federation of American Scientists, commissioned by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and published online this week.
In the study, American and British spies infiltrating the communities of games like World of Warcraft and virtual chat worlds like Second Life warn that the titles could be used to “preach and issue new fatwas for hundreds of years to come,” through the creation of virtual Osama Bin-Laden avatars.
"Imagine that jihadist supporters create a detailed avatar of Usama bin Ladin and use his many voice recordings to animate the avatar for up-close virtual reality experiences that could be used to preach, convert, recruit, and propagate dogma to the media," says the report. "The Bin Ladin avatar could preach and issue new fatwas for hundreds of years to come, as the fidelity of his likeness would be entirely believable and animated in new ways to keep him current and fresh."
[Note: the spelling "Usama" is regularly used by intelligence agencies, as opposed to the more recognizable Osama.]
Another warning says, "jihadist sympathizers could gather on the Capital Mall earing iGlasses as they conduct a virtual meeting that overlays an avatar of Usama bin Ladin on the real-world steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Their reality, their world, their hate--all reinforced with the blending of the virtual and real world, with Reality+ overlays."
The publication of the report comes just weeks after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that British and American intelligence services considered online games a "target-rich communication network" for terrorists "hiding in plain sight".
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