NSA Video Games Paper - American Civil Liberties Union

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Games: A Look at Emerging Trends, Uses, Threats and Opportunities in Influence Activities Chapter Introduction Games can serve sophisticated purposes beyond entertainment, providing terrorist organizations with a powe~ful medium analogous to the internet to support its operational objectives. Games have already been exploited by terrorist extremists and sympathizers. Emerging trends within the game space suggest greater opportunities will exist for future exploitation enhancing a range o-Dterrorist operations, from supporting strategic propaganda and influence activities, to more highly instrumental uses such as communication, fundraising and recruitment."x Such activities warrant concern given the increasing popularity o£ gaming which seems to be transcending age, gender and cultural boundaries. Potential Uses of Games for Terrorist Activities • Propaganda and Influence- Terrorists and sympathizers use games to twist historical context, demonize enemies, disrupt the social moral compass, and propagate ideology. • Communications - Games provide attractive communications channels for terrorist groups and sympathizers because in-game conversations often are difficult to monitor. • Recruiting- Online gaming can serve as a recruiting tool. For example, the United States Army found that 28% of players logging on to play its America's Army online game also visited the corresponding recruitment site. • Simulation, Practice and Team Management - Games can supplement field training by familiarizing recruits with the tactics, weaponry, and skills needed to conduct operations and planning. • Money Laundering and Fundraising- Funds used in online games can be uploaded in one location and downloaded in another by using a single avatar to which multiple people have access via ID and password. Alternately, virtual "sweat shops" can be organized to Several plausible scenarios exist where terrorist organizations could leverage the power of" the gaming medium to achieve operational goals with minimal training and expertise. This paper will outline the current capabilities and potential scenarios by game genre demonstrating how a terrorist organization might exploit the game space. The extent to which games can be used by terrorist groups to supplement their other activities depends on a variety o£ factors, to include: • Internet connectivity of game users • Cost and availability of hardware and/or software required to play game • Level and kind of interaction between players that the game allows • Ease of use of game • Degree of game skills transferability to real-world activity • Degree of realism in game design (such as graphics and programming sophistication) • Barriers to game production FOUO -Not for Public Distribution Page 26
Games: A Look at Emerging Trends, Uses, Threats and Opportunities in Influence Activities The effectiveness of car11)Jing out terrorist activities through games varies by genre. Each of the scenarios presented offers the most effective use for its respective type of game. The following chart gives an overview of each game genre and its effectiveness for enabling a specific terrorist objective: Exhibit 3-1: Best Uses of Game Genres in Influence Efforts§ Simulation Monev Genre of Enable and Launderin~:/ Proua~:;anda Tool for Game Communication Trainin!! Fund Raisin!! and Influence Recruitment First-person Shooter 0 ~ 0 ~ ~ Educational ~ 0 ~ ~ 0 Simulation Mixed or Alternate Reality MMORPGs orMUVEs Strategy Games ~ ~ ~ ~ 0 ~ ~ ~ 0 0 ~ (8) @) (8) ~ 0 ~ ~ (8) ~ ~ Ideal or good use 0 Could be used but requires moderate effort and would be only somewhat effective ~ Could be used but would not be an effective choice from a cost/benefit standpoint Note: THE SCENARIOS PRESENTED IN THIS PAPER 'ARE FICTITIOUS. They represent plausible uses of games for terrorist influence, planning, recruitment and training purposes. § A qualitative assessment on the effectiveness of different game genres in enabling terrorist operations was based on information gleaned from research, industry conferences, and gaming experts. FOUO -Not for Public Distribution Page 27
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NSA Video Games Paper - American Civil Liberties Union

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