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this is pretty much the plot of Charlie Stross' "Halting State" (2006): teenagers are being recruited online by the FSB, in online forums and in-game chats, then assigned alternate-reality-game-style "tasks" in the real world which are actually acts of espionage on behalf of Russia.
The recruitments follow a similar pattern: young people are usually approached on online channels which are well-hidden and hard to track: from Telegram to TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and Discord. They are offered money, commonly cryptocurrencies, in exchange for completing tasks. Their recruiters depend on anonymity; many work for criminal groups which, like cyber hackers, may be independent from the state but co-opted by intelligence agencies for covert operations.
Gaming sites — the most widely consumed entertainment media among 13- to 24-year-olds — have become an obvious hunting ground for potential saboteurs with a proven interest in problem solving.
In Ukraine, the chat function in the popular online game World of Tanks is commonly used as a recruitment portal, from which agents then move the conversation to Telegram. Some state-backed agents, especially those working for Russia, also invoke the mission format and “quest” mentality of online games to entice young people to move beyond the virtual battlefield to real-world action. It is, says one western military official, “like a game of Pokémon Go, but with air defence systems”.
Adrian Hon, an ARG designer, comments:
I don't think this is the work of some evil genius FSB game designer. They're throwing shit at a wall and they found that:
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- Making teens feel cool and special
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- Giving them clear tasks escalating in difficulty
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- Paying them £500 in crypto
sticks!
It is FUN to imagine you are a spy going out on a secret real world mission, getting messages from a handler.
The money helps, but the main thing is that it's free, unlike practically every comparable form of real world immersive experience/pervasive game.
Average British reaction: "Why teenagers spend their lives glued to screens and on non value-adding activities idk. [Buy] them footballs and chess sets and send them outside." Yes, so they can play football on the non-existent pitches that now cost money to play on and they can't get to.
Everyone is like, kids should get away from screens and go outside. Motherfucker that is EXACTLY what these teen FSB recruits are doing!! They are going outside taking photos, collecting wifi SSIDs, sneaking around. I literally design games like this, except I have a fraction of their budget!!!
And when I design pervasive games, we have to get public liability insurance and local govt permission and pay fees and do risk assessments. I don't make them for under-18s because god knows the red tape is a mile long.
mfw we're getting outcompeted by foreign intelligence agencies
Tags: fsb russia spying espionage args gaming games teens arg crypto
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