Online gaming chats: Uncovering the Military Spy Risk

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At military bases across the US, you can find many soldiers playing video games. They either use their own game consoles with the money given by the US government or play on gaming machines funded by them.

Recently, a lot of attention was brought to people in the military and their involvement in gaming, because an Air National Guardsman from Massachusetts named Jack Teixeira got into trouble for illegally posting secret material on a website called Discord. Discord is a place online where gamers hang out.

State secrets can be shared in all sorts of ways, like talking to people secretly or posting stuff on social media. But the military is especially worried about online gaming forums since young service members love spending time on those websites. The trouble is that it’s hard for the US officials to keep an eye on these gaming forums and make sure nothing dangerous tonational security happens there.

Dan Meyer, who works at the Tully Rinckey law firm that helps people with military and security clearances, said that social media websites like gaming sites have been a worry to the government for about ten years.

Government spies can use fake characters, called “avatars”, to pretend they are gamers and chat with young sailors in virtual gaming rooms. Meyers said sometimes these agents even make avatars for popular games like World of Warcraft or Second Life so they can secretly watch people online.

The military isn’t allowed to spy on citizens who live in the United States, this is a task for an agency like the FBI. Even when monitoring members of the armed forces, their privacy must still be respected. The Defense Department tried to create rules about social media that would help prevent extremism among their troops.

The Army and Navy have people who play video games all day as part of their job. This team helps to recruit young gamers who are used to playing online since they were small. However, the military does not have any members that play online solely for security reasons.

The Pentagon says that its intelligence activities mainly happen outside of America. If the Defense Department does collect data about any Americans, it always follows strict laws and policies that protect their privacy and rights. And to make sure everything is legal, these procedures must be approved by the attorney general.

The military is now focused on teaching personnel not to tell classified information in the first place. After recent online leaks, the department is reviewing their methods of organization for keeping information secret and limiting those with access to it. The Deputy Secretary of Defense even sent out a notice that anyone given clearance must remain responsible and keep their secrets private all through life.

Peter W. Singer, who wrote a book about an online war game and has worked with the Pentagon, thinks that some gaming channels could be used for spying in the future. He believes this is because they act like social networks and people can hide behind avatars to keep their identity safe.

According to Singer, video games are no longer seen as just a hobby, they’re used for many different things like marketing and entertainment. He believes that this trend will most likely continue in the future. However, the Pentagon won’t be able to control it because there are too many sites and chats for them to manage.

Singer said we shouldn’t only think about finding videos about the topic on video game channels, but also figure out ways to stop it from being shared and seen by others.