Worm knocks out Second Life

Second Life staff had to disable all log-ins for a period of about 10 minutes

A self-replicating computer worm caused an outage of the Second Life online virtual world on Sunday. 

The online pest was programmed in the Linden Scripting Language that is used inside the virtual environment. 

The attack was visible to users logged into the game because it distributed 'golden rings' that could be picked up and collected.

As the worm spread, the in-game experience started to slow down as performance of the computer grid powering the game deteriorated. Staff at one point had to disable all log-ins for a period of about 10 minutes.

Second Life is a massive multiplayer online role playing game. Unlike most popular online games, Second Life does not charge any membership fees.

Instead users can purchase premium accounts and currency with which they can buy virtual goods.

The game does not have a distinct goal, but instead provides a way for the more than one million registered players to interact.

Second Life became the focus of the enterprise world in recent weeks as companies like Sun Microsystems, Dell and Reuters purchased private 'islands' and opened virtual offices.

It remains unclear, however, whether the corporate attention is a short term fad or has any long term benefits.

• Dell sets up shop in Second Life
• Sun sets up shop in Second Life
• Reuters opens Second Life virtual news desk
• vnunet.com analysis: Corporate culture booms in Second Life