Tuesday, 21 November 2006

Grey Goo Worm Downs Second Life Virtual Game World for 21 Minutes

Second Life had to close its cyber gates for a short time after a 'grey goo' virus attacked the virtual world. The official Linden Lab blog warned that the attack of 'self-replicators' was causing a heavy load on the database, slowing down in-world activity. The blog added that the server was only down for approximately a half-hour while workers cleaned up the offending objects from the grid. During the interim, some players complained on the blog that this type of attack may be a sign that the game's wild success is going to be its downfall.

The attack deposited spinning gold rings around the Second Life landscape. The virtual world was closed for 21 minutes to all except Linden staff, who were busy tidying up the aftermath of the grey goo.

Another recent development that has some Second Life residents complaining is the release of a tool called CopyBot, which can be used to replicate people's virtual assets.

CopyBot was originally meant to be used to find and fix vulnerabilities in the Second Life landscape but it has since been adapted and distributed to other users, some of whom have used it to make unauthorised duplicates. Linden said the use of such a tool in this way violates its terms of service.