Second Life Attacked

Playing a Massive Multiplayer Online game is like living an alternate life, away from the trials and tribulations of the real world. The game ‘Second Life’, takes this to a whole new level, where people can make various objects of utility and vanity, and sell them in the online economic structure created by the game. You can then exchange this currency for real life money, at the exchange rate of around L$250 (Linden Dollars- The currency of the game) for $1. This aspect attracted a lot of attention, which consequently increased the population of the game’s ‘residents’from 165,000 to a million, in just a few months.

This virtual paradise, a sort of home-away-from-home for many, was attacked by a malicious program, which forced Linden Labs to shut the game server for a while on Sunday. The program replicated golden rings rapidly all over the game world, making the server lag and eventually crash.

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After isolating the ‘grey goo’ (that’s what Linden Labs calls it), they cleared the game world of all the rings and put the servers back online. The worm caused some damage to a few of the ‘residents’ and made many very upset.