In 2008, when millions of netizens were flocking to the online worlds of Second Life and World of Warcraft, the U.S. intelligence brass was worried about virtual, immortal version of Osama Bin Laden.
"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," read a confidential study commissioned by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in July 2008.
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"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," the unnamed authors conclude.
The report was commissioned by the ODNI but, as the authors warn in its first pages, its conclusions don't necessarily represent its views or those of the intelligence community in general.
Yet it's not the only time U.S. spies have voiced concerns about terrorists exploiting virtual worlds.
Last month, a document leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that NSA agents have been infiltrating the online worlds that the study also mentions, sending undercover agents into Second Life and World of Warcraft to monitor user activities.
And in 2008, right around the time of the study, a Pentagon researcher conjured a World of Warcraft terror plot, as Wired reported at the time. At a conference, the researcher explained how terrorists could use World of Warcraft to plot an attack on the White House, aligning a game map to the actual map of Washington, D.C.
In other words, the concern was probably at least somewhat rooted in reality, however farfetched it may sound.
"It is likely that adversaries increasingly will use virtual worlds to engage in propaganda, recruitment, coordination, training, and information gathering," the authors wrote in the key findings section of the report, titled 3D Cyberspace Spillover: Where Virtual Worlds Get Real.
The study was published for the first time on Wednesday by Steven Aftergood, a secrecy expert and researcher for the Federation of American Scientists, who obtained it after almost four years after his Freedom of Information request.
Aftergood said the somewhat strange Bin Laden scenario is not representative of the whole report, which is 142 pages long.
"I suppose the purpose of the study was to stimulate unconventional thinking and to engage in imaginative forecasts of possible futures," he told Mashable in an email. "So it's not surprising that some aspects of the resulting report may be bizarre or possibly ridiculous. That's OK."
In fact, the authors of the study acknowledge that while it's possible that terrorists could move their operations into online worlds, at the time of the report there was no proof the Bin Ladens of the world were getting into Second Life.
"As of this report, there is little evidence that militant Islamist and jihadist groups have begun extensively exploiting the opportunities presented by virtual worlds," the study said. "However, [...] they will likely soon seek to exploit newer virtual world technologies for recruiting, raising and transferring funds, training new recruits, conducting reconnaissance and surveillance, and planning attacks by using virtual representations of prospective targets."
When not talking about virtual terrorists though, the authors were more prescient with their predictions.
In a chapter titled "Plausible Future," the authors posit a new technology called iGlasses that could one day "feature a fully integrated computer, PDA, cell phone, ID tag, HMD (Head Mounted Display), and GPS" with built-in Internet access and augmented reality capabilities.
Sounds a lot like a slightly improved Google Glass. Soon after this prediction, however, the authors let their imagination run a bit wild.
"Of course, this technology could also be abused [...] jihadist sympathizers could gather on the Capital Mall wearing 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 worlds."
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