Have you logged into an online gaming chat and noticed someone speaking about Russia in a surprising amount? At Semafor’s World Economic Summit, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement that security analysts discovered Russian agents who were trying to communicate information through gaming communities.
The games could be a target for Russian agents
Smith added, “We advise governments on this. You know, this Wagner Group, Russian intelligence, and in part they are using these gaming communities to circulate information.” Wagner Group Wagner Group is privately-owned military group run by an all-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, working closely with the Russian government “to be considered a de facto unit of the Ministry of Defense or the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.”
Microsoft President @BradSmi says the Wagner Group and Russian intelligence have been working to penetrate gaming communities to use them “as a place to get information into circulation.” pic.twitter.com/F7CCmaqOvu
— Semafor (@semafor) April 12, 2023
Confidential military data published on Discord
Smith declared it crucial to end these intrusions into gaming communities since they can spread inaccurate and false information regarding Russia. Russian invading Ukraine. Smith’s comments came a few days following the discovery of a set of US intelligence documents came to light on the Minecraft Discord server that was discovered in Twitter, 4chan and Telegram. The documents provided information on the US support for Ukraine as well as the Wagner Group’s activities in Africa. The documents also contained classified information regarding Israel and South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea. Chris Meagher, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs claimed that certain papers “seem to have been changed”.
FBI agents have been detained 21-year old Massachusetts Air National Guard Jack Douglas Teixeira for illegal acquisition storage, transmission and storage of classified information about national defense. Teixeira was the highest-level of security clearance granted by the federal government for classified information. The New York Times named Teixeira the head of the Discord group dubbed “Thug Shaker Central”, comprising 20-30 young men. It is believed that Teixeira started posting classified information to the group over the last few months. The NYT mentions that a different member of the group shared a few of these in a forum for the public.
