Nsa Agents Spying on Virtual Worlds

I'M JAKE TAPPER. NOW TURNING TO THE NATIONAL LEAD. IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE MATRIX EXCEPT THE AGENTS ARE WITH THE NSA AND BRITISH INTELLIGENCE AND THEIR TARGETS ARE TERROR SUSPECTS. WE LEARNED TODAY THAT GOVERNMENT SPIES HAVE REPORTEDLY BEEN INFILTRATING THE VIRTUAL WORLDS OF ONLINE VIDEO GAMES LIKE "WORLD OF WAR CRAFT" AND "SECOND LIFE" TO TRY AND RECRUIT INFORMANTS AND STOP TERROR ATTACKS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN. THAT'S ACCORDING TO DOCUMENTS LEAKED BY FORMER NSA CONTRACTOR EDWARD SNOWDEN AND REPORTED IN A JOINT INVESTIGATION BY THE "NEW YORK TIMES," PRO PUBLICA AND THE GUARDIAN. NOW, IF YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE VIDEO GAME UNIVERSE BEGINS AND ENDS WITH "FROGGER" DON'T WORRY. WE WILL BREAK IT DOWN FOR YOU. SPENCER ACKERMAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR AT THE GUARDIAN JOINS ME FROM NEW YORK. SPENCER, THE GUARDIAN'S CALLING THIS A HOARDE OF UNDERCOVER ORKS. PLEASE BREAK OUT THE NERD TO ENGLISH/ENGLISH TO NERD DICTIONARY AND TRANSLATE THAT FOR US. >> WORLD OF WAR CRAFT LIKE MANY OTHER POPULAR ADDICTIVE VIDEO GAMES IS THIS AMAZING DEEPLY, DEEPLY, DEEPLY RICHLY DEVELOPED FANTASY GAME IN WHICH YOU GO ON QUESTS ALONG WITH YOUR VIRTUAL FRIENDS AND FACE THINGS LIKE ORKS AND WEIRD CREATURES AND OTHER THINGS THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT BECAUSE OF COURSE, I WOULD NEVER PLAY THESE GAMES. NEVER. >> HOW WOULD A MILITANT OR TERRORIST GROUP USE SUCH A GAME TO LAUNCH AN ATTACK? >> WELL, THAT'S KIND OF UNCLEAR. BUT THE SUSPICION AROUND THE SORT OF LATE 2000s THAT EMERGED IN INTELLIGENCE CIRCLES, IN DEFENSE CIRCLES, WAS THAT AS MORE OF OUR LIVES MIGRATE INTO MASSIVELY MULTIPLE ONLINE ROLE PLAYING GAMES LIKE WARCRAFT AND OTHERS, MORE PEOPLE WOULD SEEK TO USE THEM AS SORT OF ONLINE SANCTUARIES WHERE YOU WOULDN'T THINK INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES LIKE THE NSA WOULD BE WATCHING, SO THEY COULD POTENTIALLY DISCUSS PLANNING ATTACKS LIKE THAT. >> DO WE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY AGENTS MIGHT BE PLAYING THIS GAME, THESE GAMES, AT ANY ONE TIME? >> I HAVE SOME SUSPICION ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE GONE AFTER ME AND TOTALLY PONED ME BUT NO, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE THAT SUSPICION. WHAT WE DO HAVE BASED ON DOCUMENTS AND BASED ON SUBSEQUENT REPORTING IS THAT THEY COLLECTED QUITE A LOT OF DATA, THAT IT WASN'T TARGETED TO PARTICULAR INDIVIDUALS BUT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY AS ONE OF THE DOCUMENTS DESCRIBES THE ONLINE ROLE PLAYING WORLD. >> THE XBOX LIVE CONSOLE NETWORK HAS MORE THAN 48 MILLION PLAYERS. HOW MANY PEOPLE POSSIBLY WERE UNKNOWINGLY PLAYING WITH SPIES? ALL OF THEM? >> IT'S A GREAT QUESTION AND POTENTIALLY, YES. WE HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFICULTY DETERMINING PRECISELY HOW MANY PEOPLE'S ONLINE GAMING COMMUNITIES WERE INFILTRATED OR WHAT THE REAL EXPOSURE WAS. IT'S NOT AS SIMPLE AS ASKING SOMEONE, YOU KNOW, GUYS WHO HAVE SEEN -- >> CNN HAS NOT RECEIVED AN ON THE RECORD RESPONSE TO THESE ARTICLES FROM THE NSA BUT DO SAY THEIR PROGRAMS ARE ALL CENTERED ON VALID FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE TARGETS. HAVE ANY TERRORISTS, TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE, ACTUALLY BEEN CAUGHT BY DOING THIS? >> NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE. THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT NOT JUST BY NSA, BUT BY THE U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND, TO TRY AND PUT PEOPLE PRETENDING TO BE EITHER GAMERS OR PEOPLE IN CHAT ROOMS OTHERWISE SEEMINGLY UNAFFILIATED WITH THESE GROUPS TO TRY AND PENETRATE THESE NETWORKS BUT WE REALLY HAVEN'T SEEN THAT EITHER, A, THESE SORTS OF ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS LED TO ACTUAL TERRORIST PLOTS OR, B, MUCH EVIDENCE OF HOW MUCH INTELLIGENCE WAS REALLY USEFULLY COLLECTED OUT OF THEM. >> AFTER 9/11, INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES WERE FAULTED FOR A