Crime Wave Thwarted in Second Life

Ponca City, We Love You writes "The Mercury News reports that a vulnerability in the way Second Life protects a user's money has been identified. Risks for users are reportedly limited because the researchers say the flaw can be quickly patched. The flaw exploits a known problem with Apple's QuickTime - when a virtual character passes by an infected object planted by hackers, the Second Life software activates QuickTime so it can play the video or picture. Hackers can direct the Second Life software to a malicious Web site that then allows them to 'take over the user's avatar and force it to hand over its Linden cash. Second Life is recommending that users disable streaming video playback in the Second Life viewer except when you are attending a known and trusted venue.' The hack raises tough questions for operators of virtual worlds. Should they be as secure as banks and guarantee the safety of money and property that characters in the world possess?"

Comments

I'm sorry

[Deltaspectre]

I run the Linux client, perhaps you could deliver this streaming video.... so I can more easily turn it off.

fantastic

[ILuvRamen]

Well fan-fricken-tastic for them. Pardon me if I don't care since my 2 year old account just got stolen in SRO because of some idiotic glitch in the company's website or something. It let anyone change your account's password AND e-mail on file so you can't recover it. I was one of the richest people in the entire game. Basically all the famous high level people's accounts are trashed now so everyone's quitting and pissed and threatening to blow up all of South Korea etc. I wouldn't be surprised in the least of the entire game goes under now.
So what's the point of me telling you all this? Because this is what could have happened.

Scare mongering

[SJ2000]

This is simple scare mongering this article and it's no different to surfing around the web except it's in 3D and you walk around. Plus you can just turn off video streaming so go take your crap elsewhere. There has been NO suspected content as of yet to be said to have used the Quicktime Exploit in SecondLife, so no "crime wave" was thwarted. I'm tired of all the anti-SecondLife crap, it's a game which some people don't like, ok, get over it. Get back to your first fucking life which doesn't involve bagging out some stupid game. You want to bag out SecondLife? Do it on something with merit like the crap customer service, the crap uptime or pathetic reliability at least that has basis.

Re:short answer - No

[iminplaya]

"There's 3000 dollars in un-collected "GO" money" I'm gathering you mean Lindens, which equates to around US$15, of course I could be wrong you entire scenario from this point onwards is bizarre.

I guess you never played Monopoly. And judging by your reaction to my post, you seem to be the sensitive type with a thin skin and an inability to comprehend the "editorial" you. As for the rest of your post, I don't understand a word you said. It made no sense. Have fun playing "The Game". Look it up :-)

Welcome, welcome to "You bet your life. Say the secret woid and win a hundred dollars. It's something you always have with you."

Re:short answer - No

[The One and Only]

I spent a long time on Second Life--hours, even. It is crap and anyone who actually feels bad for losing their "Linden Dollars" is pathetic. (It's possible on SL to bootstrap from nothing and work your way up to having a considerable number of "Linden Dollars" without any talent at all, and I was halfway into doing so until I decided SL was a waste of time. And it's not exactly difficult either--I sort of fell into it by accident.)

Re:SL's economy is a giant sinkhole anyway

[AlexMax2742]

"...they're [sex and money] the only reasons anyone uses it [Second Life], despite claims to the contrary by media-whorish Linden Labs." Perhaps you're not aware of the number of corporate entities using Second Life, not even for direct profit, but simply as a platform to deliver product information, such as Sun Microsystems, or the educational institutions using it as part of a prototype distance learning initiative, such as Bowling Green State University. Maybe you're not aware of the high-profile full-time businesses in Second Life, or the many, many articles reputable business publications have written noting the unique opportunities that exist in SL. There's much more than just sex and money. As in real life, there is entertainment, education, experimentation and economy. You know little about these because you spend all your time making the experience inconvenient for others.

Maybe when you people get...

"A bank called "Ginko" that recently went insolvent sent shockwaves through the economy lately." This was no surprise to anyone not stupid.

...your head out of your own ass...

"As the Linden (the currency of Second Life) is not based on anything, Linden Labs simply dumps currency into the market whenever they feel like it." A quick look through the SL Economy metrics and blogs shows you're full of it. There is an actual regulation to the currency in SL, you're just ignorant of it.

...to the point where you don't bother with point by point rebuttles...

[Your last statements] Again, your ignorance shines through. Do you do any investing in the real world? Do you know what happens when you invest 100k in prime real estate in California and an earthquake devastates it? Unless you took out insurance of some kind with an organization who certainly makes more than they will ever put out (on a sidenote, there are investement insurers in SL), you are SOL. Linden is careful to use the terminology "unit of trade" for the Linden dollar, because the Metaverse is not a seperate governmental body, has no legal jurisdiction in the real world, and wants to avoid the IRS putting their grubby mitts any further in. If you are foolish enough to make an unwise investment in SL, then, just as in real life, you learn that a fool and his money are soon parted.

...to people who are trying to troll you...

In conclusion, please know what the hell you're talking about before you respond. And stop griefing the Metaverse, it's obnoxious.

...you faggot.