Like any spy agency worth its salt, the NSA leaves no stone unturned. We’ve ceased being surprised at the knowledge that the U.S. spies on our social media habits, email and cell phone use—but that’s the easy stuff. If you really want to know what’s going on in the world of war, you’ve got to go to the World of Warcraft. Which is exactly where the spies went. According to a new report titled “Exploiting Terrorist Use of Games & Virtual Environments,” which was released today by The New York Times, the NSA launched a massive espionage effort on World of Warcraft, spying on gamers. Yes, you thought you were talking to a level fifteen wood elf or, perhaps, the Fangorian Rock Troll of Eternal Sleep. In all actuality, you were talking to a government agent—one who was probably pretty pumped about getting paid to be a video game spy. Perhaps more intriguingly, this was a huge undertaking. A separate party had to be brought in, just to make sure the CIA, Pentagon and FBI didn’t all accidentally start spying on each other …
