Usually we hear about some credit card company or another having some hackers come in and swipe their database of users. This time the hackers were Chinese and the hackee was the online game “Lineage” in South Korea. About 4000 accounts were stolen through the use of malware installed by some suspicious websites. No you will not get free nude pictures of Britney Spears if you click on that link!

Taking the “thief” character class to the next level, the hackers obtained both personal and account information of those affected. The information is not easily used for identity theft, but the virtual identity of the person is easily whisked away.

Another aim of these hackers was to steal the “virtual items” of the players. Yes, we are at a point in this world where people go to great lengths to steal items that don’t exist. There are even full scale “farming” operations where people are paid to play the game to obtain rare items that can be sold for a profit.

One way or another, online gaming is becoming it’s own industry, even it’s own world with benefits and pitfalls. More and more we are seeing online games emerge with their own communities and even economies. Many people are even making a living off trading in these games as well, especially in such socially oriented games as Second Life.