Cyber Culture and Personnel Security: Report 2 - Ethnographic Analysis of Second Life

This report presents the results from an ethnographic examination of a popular virtual social environment, Second Life, as the second part of a larger effort to study the impact of participation in cyber activities on personnel security and safety. Research has shown that cyber participation can spi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shechter, Olga G, Lang, Eric L, Keibler, Christina R
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
AVATARS
BEHAVIOR
CASE STUDIES
COMPUTER GAMES
CYBER CULTURE
ETHNOGRAPHY
INTERNET
Military Forces and Organizations
NATIONAL SECURITY
ONLINE BEHAVIOR
Psychology
RISK ANALYSIS
SECOND LIFE(ON LINE CYBER GAME)
SECURITY PERSONNEL
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Summary:This report presents the results from an ethnographic examination of a popular virtual social environment, Second Life, as the second part of a larger effort to study the impact of participation in cyber activities on personnel security and safety. Research has shown that cyber participation can spill over into individuals' offline lives, which could be of security concern to the extent that their online behavior demonstrates poor judgment and/or undermines their reliability. Several immersive ethnographic methods were used in the present study, including participation observation, group discussions, and one-on-one interviews with 148 Second Life users who resembled the demographics of clearance holders. The reported findings include a description of behaviors of potential concern, a set of case studies that outline the behaviors of actual users, and a framework of user personas that attempts to distinguish between innocuous use of no apparent security concern from problematic use that may pose risks to national security. These findings contain implications for updating personnel security policy regarding cyber involvement. Prepared in collaboration with Northrop Grumman Technical Services and People Path, LLC.