Games hacked for militants' jihad
THE makers of combat video games have unwittingly become part of a global propaganda campaign by Islamic militants against the United States, US Defence officals say.
Tech-savvy militants from al Qaeda and other groups have modified video war games so that US troops play the role of bad guys in running gunfights against heavily armed Islamic radical heroes, US Defence Department official and contractors told the US Congress.
The games appeared on militant websites, where youths as young as 7 can play at being troop-killing urban guerrillas after registering with the site's sponsors. "What we have seen is that any video game that comes out ... they'll modify it and change the game for their needs," Defence Department public diplomacy specialist Dan Devlin said.
