I posted in a news roundup last night about the WSE being hacked and L$3.2 million being stolen by the chairman of Mystik Designs, Thurston Hallard. Reuters has posted on their blog about it today, World Stock Exchange hit by L$3.2 million theft, in which they talk about the theft and they mention that Mystik’s account is now open to her again, but fail to mention how it happened, namely, someone giving him rights to do what he did when he was working on their ATM’s.

Anyway, a well respected security researcher and ecommerce expert turned Second Life researcher of all things, Wayne Porter, chimes in on what happened and how he feels about it.

So one thing sticks out here- and it is accountability or lack of it. This is where the WSE, and I don’t fault any or all of the exchanges because the idea is new, the concept so infantile and the entire platform not secure…there are going to be many of mistakes along the way. Virtual trading is incredibly interesting, thinly traded equities, no real names for most part, yet people come in droves- virtual firms raised decent amount of Lindens to expand. Note- FICTIONAL EXCHANGE, FICTITIOUS CURRENCY.

One things jumps out at me: Ms. Stewart goes to the press and as I have it from her Linden Labs cleared her of any wrong doing or knowledge of the transgression- I am not surprised- she pushes envelopes, but has never practiced conceit or duplicity in my eyes- as a researcher I am trained to find it- there is plenty out there.

The story of this debacle will come and go as all things do, but avatars must learn that without accountability, without repercussions of some sort- it really is just a game and the object will always be to “Game the system” and not a better world make. Reward those who are accountable. I do. We all should- there is much value in the virtual world and it isn’t all in Lindens- relationships, ideas, talent and friendship. Learning, new viewpoints, new cultures, new models for metrics! Here is a tip- just like Facebook- what you do and say isn’t private. Get that straight my dear avatars. It is an illusion easily understood by reading the Terms of Service. This doesn’t mean it is all bad, but don’t let the ephemeral nature of the medium lull you to sleep. Source: World Stock Exchange- Accountability in a Virtual World: Gaming the Game

It will be interesting to see what happens, as I have meet most of these individuals in world, and see how it affects the security measures used by the exchanges going forward. They would probably be best off contacting either Wayne or Mystik for some consults.

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