Although fully functional virtual worlds are still a few years away, the potential threats posed by virtual worlds require immediate attention from a wide range of people and organizations.
The Metaverse is on its way. Like other technological advances, it brings with it both new opportunities and new threats.
Metaverse is a virtual reality internet where users can move freely from one virtual environment to another and interact with digital things and digital representations of themselves and other users. It may also include augmented reality, which is a blending of the virtual and physical worlds by depicting people and objects in the physical world in the virtual world and bringing the virtual into people’s perceptions of physical locations.
People will be able to wear virtual reality headsets or augmented reality glasses in social, religious and professional environments, blurring the lines between digital and physical. People’s offline and online lives will complement each other, allowing them to find deeper meaning and more fulfilling experiences in the Metaverse. This is a dilemma.
When people have feelings for anything, whether digital, physical, or a combination of the two, removing it from their lives can cause emotional sadness and pain. More precisely, what is most dear to people can be used by others who seek to cause harm. Unscrupulous people already know that virtual worlds are a possible addition to their arsenal. This opens up new opportunities for radicals to exercise control over others through coercion, threats, and intimidation. Terrorist groups can gain a foothold in the Metaverse. Experts predict that the growth of the metaverse will create new vulnerabilities and opportunities for exploitation. Here are three ways the Metaverse is hindering the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
First, recruitment and networking define the characteristics of today’s extremism, and the Metaverse can amplify this potential by making it easier for people to meet. Thanks to the metaverse, extremist leaders have gained new opportunities to create and maintain virtual ideologies and social communities, as well as powerful, indestructible means to expand their ranks and reach.
Second, the metaverse offers new ways of coordinating, planning, and executing destructive actions among a large number of participants. With adequate surveillance and information gathering, extremist leaders can create virtual worlds with representations of any practical structure, allowing them to guide followers along routes to key targets. Participants can explore feasible and efficient routes, organize alternative routes when certain routes are blocked, and develop extensive contingency plans. Augmented reality elements, such as virtual shooters, can guide and identify marked violent extremist targets when conducting attacks in the real world.
Violent extremists can plot from their living room, basement, or backyard, building social connections, gaining the trust of their peers, and appearing to others in the digital avatar of their choice. Because of the time they spend in the virtual world, with their leaders giving orders to operate in the real world, these extremist groups may be better prepared than they are today.
Finally, with the introduction of new virtual and mixed reality venues, new goals become possible. Just as injuries can be inflicted on buildings, events, and people in the real world, the same can happen in the virtual world. It would be easy to brush aside the dangers of this virtual and physical mixed reality by claiming that it is not real and therefore irrelevant.
Undermining an AR or VR company could result in real financial losses. Like physical locations, virtual scenery can be carefully planned and created and therefore has the same value as the people who put their time and effort into the objects they put their time and effort into. Also, as technology gets smaller and more integrated into people’s daily lives, it’s getting harder to just shut down the virtual world and ignore the dangers.
So how should these evolving hazards and vulnerabilities be addressed? It is legitimate for businesses to claim that hate or violence is unacceptable, or that extremists will be identified and excluded from virtual venues. But one should be wary of their veracity, especially in light of the recent revelations of the Meta’s dangerous activities on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. One can profit from hatred and division.
The fight against terrorism in the Metaverse is likely to require a multifaceted approach that includes both proactive and retaliatory measures. One possible pre-emptive measure is the creation of virtual environments that actively discourage extremist activity and promote alternative ideologies and values. This may include the development of virtual communities and events that provide positive social connections and messages about countering extremism. Response measures may include enhanced surveillance and intelligence gathering to identify and disrupt the activities of virtual extremists, as well as developing strategies to respond to and mitigate virtual attacks. It is also important for politicians and security experts to anticipate and address potential vulnerabilities in the metaverse, such as the ability of extremist leaders to expand their sphere of influence and influence, or to coordinate and carry out destructive actions with a large number of participants.
While full-featured virtual worlds are still a few years away, the potential threats posed by virtual worlds require immediate attention from a wide range of individuals and organizations. These individuals and organizations include academic researchers, those responsible for the development of the Metaverse, and those responsible for protecting society. These threats require as much or even more creativity in relation to the Metaverse than malicious intent can manifest. We need to prepare for this coming world.
Girish Linganna is a defense and aerospace analyst and director of ADD Engineering Components (India) Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH.
Post time: Jan-03-2023