Criminals thriving in the virtual world

Mar 11 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

AS firms in the region join the virtual revolution, they are also putting themselves at risk from a new breed of criminal. Andrew Mernin takes a walk through Second Life to find out more.

THERE were no sawn-off shotguns, no getaway cars and the robbers did not wear ski masks, but this was a bank heist all the same.

Last year it emerged that a single cyber-crime group armed with ultra-advanced software had stolen more than half a million bank, credit and debit card accounts over a period of two-and-a-half years.

But the scam – which used special software to steal data from Microsoft Windows PCs – was not an isolated incident and could in fact be a mere sample of the seedy underbelly of crime flourishing in the virtual world.

In the dawn of virtual worlds such as Second Life, their stereotypical inhabitants were socially-challenged geeks holed up in their bedrooms with too much time on their hands.

US company Linden Lab dreamed up the world of Second Life as a role-playing game where players can live out a fantasy existence through their avatar, or idealised character, in surprisingly complex and complete world. They can form relationships, buy or build a house and indeed do anything they may want to do in the real world. Last year a couple from Cornwall’s marriage broke up after the husband’s avatar was caught by the wife’s avatar having an online virtual affair with another woman’s avatar.

However, as more and more corporate giants see the money-making opportunities of this rapidly developing new dimension, this is no longer a minority interest but with that there are growing threats to you and your business.

“In the next couple of years we will all be virtual,” said a spokesperson for the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) at a recent fraud-awareness event in Gateshead.

“What’s an absolute definite is that, whether you like it or not, in the next five years, for commercial purposes businesses will exist in this virtual environment.

“From a business perspective you’ve got to think about that and get with the programme or you’re going to be left behind. For law enforcers we have a host of headaches which we have to deal with but it doesn’t matter because that’s where we are going.”

In Second Life – just one of scores of virtual worlds – it is estimated that around £192,000 changes hands everyday while its creators claim it has an economic impact of £12.3bn.

It is now home to commercial arms of the likes of Dell, Nike and IBM and the future is likely to see businesses across the North East join the virtual revolution as they target new revenue streams.

The SCDEA spokesperson, who can’t be named because of his involvement in covert investigations, came to the region to meet with business leaders and members of the North East Fraud Forum (NEFF) about the growing threat from the virtual world.

He believes it is inevitable that companies in the region will increasingly be exposed to virtual worlds, their many commercial opportunities and their threats – and this shift is already under way in the North East.

Teesside University is working with training firm Laidler Associates to enable its students to train online in Second Life while the university’s Centre for Design in the Digital Economy (D-LAB) has developed a resource which will give firms access to the latest technical and specialist features in more than 100 virtual worlds as well as those in development.

As other businesses and institutions prepare to make the leap into the virtual unknown, the SCDEA – which has been forward thinking in its battle against online crime – is keen to raise awareness of the dangers.

According to the SCDEA, the virtual world is a vacuum when it comes to legislation, despite a current far-reaching crimewave.

“The internet and the law are totally incompatible and that’s a major issue. Nothing goes on the internet without a service provider but they say ‘we can’t police it, we just hold massive amounts of information but it’s impossible to police’.

“I just don’t accept that. I think if you can’t do something about it before it goes up on the net then you are pretty much beat.”