Well, the issues with the grid are now quite clear. The Patriotic Nigras (or someone claiming to be them - honestly, it's all so childish that it's hard to tell - most griefer groups spend more time wailing on each-other than anything else) have used a form of a privilege escalation exploit on a number of objects around the grid to overload the communications systems.

It's unlikely that the Nigras themselves are actually responsible for the work, as most of them are 'script kiddies' (people who cannot create or modify software) and this sort of thing seems to be well above their usual displayed capacity (usually limited to screaming obscenities, using cage-guns or employing the work of others). Most likely, their eagerness to cause trouble is being exploited by someone else.

"traditional Internet bullies ... work through instant messages and cell phones"

"A new type of cyberbully known as a griefer is overtaking other forms of aggression on the Internet and in the world of online gaming, a health researcher warned." -- Reuters.

"Please, dear god, won't someone teach them to use Google or something?" -- Tateru.

Seems someone has all their background material backwards, or has just ignored years of it. Not sure if it is Reuters or Doctor Black. Black's research about behavioral changes and MMORPG's may be more indicative of children having unsupervised interactions with unknown peer groups - but that may just be an impression.

While we're here, we may as well talk briefly about these sad people called 'griefers'. Maybe Reuters will even notice.

I should really be smacked on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper for that headline, but ehnh, what're you gonna do? Mitch Wagner at InformationWeek reports on what he calls (and I must agree) a 'pretty lame' griefing attack on Toyota's Scion City.

By the time I got there, the missiles were gone, but hovering outside was this attack helicopter. Coincidence? Hmmm ...

Today, Zee Linden talked a bit about the Risk API. If you spend much time on secondlife.com, you'll have seen it appear in the sidebar more than once. You might have poked at it to find out what it was all about. Basically it's a system for monitoring account activity, conditions and funds transfers that indicates fraud. Why should you care? After all, you don't commit fraud.

Because Zee Linden says that griefers are using the Risk API as a form of techno-social judo to have the accounts of innocent people mass-suspended. In fact, it's even better than goo attacks. Zee's initial message is "Be smart, don't get scammed", but by the end, there's obviously no way to prevent it, since your consent is not required.

A griefer, is generally accepted as a person who derives enjoyment from being obstructive, diminishing the enjoyment of others, preventing the enjoyment of others, wasting your time, and so forth. Depending on the environment, there may be a wide variety of specific behaviours (kill-stealing, blocking, training, player-killing, team-killing etc). They don't enjoy Second Life the way you or I enjoy Second Life. They enjoy it when they make you sad, or unhappy, or frustrated. Especially when you show it. Face it – it's easier to destroy than to create – and it requires comparatively little effort or talent.

Griefers are the criminals and felons in the attenuated universes of MMO rules and regulations. Some griefers operate in groups, moving from one MMO to another, causing discomfort and annoyance on larger scales, and then moving on. Some are loners, bent solely on their own enjoyment at the expense of others. Some are just new, and haven't yet grasped the existence of the rules, let alone their precise nature – succumbing to the common virtual world fallacy "That which is possible is permitted."

So it seems that LL is stepping up their security measures, but will it be enough? In a recent blog post, Robin Linden says they'll be taking a 'two-pronged approach' which has already been initiated.

A 'Trusted' account system is to be utilized in allowing scripters to work with LSL, but what, exactly, are the parameters for being 'Trusted'? Robin merely says 'technical options', which is vague at best. Presumably LL is concerned that exposing too much information about this newest method will provide attackers with the means to circumvent it, which is laudable. However, being vague about resident concerns will only carry trust so far. Indeed, one need only browse through the over 130 posted replies to this particular article to see how residents are reacting to the news.

Wednesday's update will bring with it new code changes to help minimize future attacks. Once again, there are no specific methods or changes mentioned. Residents have more cause to be concerned with this announcement, as previous code changes have been responsible for in-place scripts and scripted objects to suddenly cease their functions, with a concomitant loss of revenue for some.

Finally, it will be interesting to see what, if any, results will come of LL contacting the Federal authorities. While we've posted before about SL being named its own country, it's doubtful that the goverment will take too much notice of this, given the continuing viewpoint of the Great Unwashed that SL is simply a game. More on these issues as they progress.

Talking to my friend TD Goodliffe, who writes an amazing number of blogs about SL and other things, I find that he has been griefed a few times since the open registration came about. Many people have told me that griefing has become more of a problem: property Resistance over at the Forum tells me that since the new registration arrangements were introduced, a griefer will come to the Forum, they will ban him, and three minutes later he's back in a different body. They campaigned to be able to ban avatars based on their account status, and that was introduced in the most recent update.

TD is looking for an anti-push shield. Never having had to use one, I wasn't sure where these are to be found -- I am told Catherine Omega makes one (she can't have been wearing it during her recent brush with Homeland Security). If you know of a good shield, do let me know.