Russian intelligence trying to “penetrate gaming communities”, Microsoft exec says

Microsoft president Brad Smith has claimed Russian intelligence agencies and private military company The Wagner Group were trying to “penetrate gaming communities”.

During a chat at Semafor’s World Economy Summit, the discussion turned to leaked Pentagon documents that appear to stem from a gaming chatroom and contain sensitive information about the Ukraine war. This allegedly includes details about the deployment of British special forces, among others.

In response to these comments, Smith stated Microsoft’s threat analysis team had “been identifying efforts by the Russians” to weave their way into gaming communities, with the intention to spread information from there. Smith specifically mentioned Discord and Minecraft, as an example. He said Microsoft has been “advising governments” on this issue, before stating: “It’s the Wagner Group, it’s Russian intelligence.”

“They’re just in part using this as a place to get information into circulation,” Smith added.

The Microsoft exec stated that this issue is “not the number one thing [Microsoft] should worry about”, noting that The Wagner Group and Russian intelligence were always “going to publish information somewhere”. Gaming communities, in Smith’s words, “just happen to be a good place for them to get the information into circulation, and then ultimately journalists find it”.

Smith also acknowledged that playing games such as Call of Duty was not going to “lead to deaths in the real world”, saying “these are video games”.

You see this discussion in full via the tweet below.