For players just looking to have a good time when gaming online, hackers are a major nuisance. But regardless of how frustrating playing against someone with an unfair advantage can be, the practice of game console hacking has apparently caught the eye of the United States military. It seems the U.S. Navy is looking for a few good hackers to create both hardware and virtual modifications that will allow officials to monitor the messaging functions of specific game consoles — and they're prepared to pay over $150,000 for the final product.

Officials wants to be able to keep tabs on live communications between a person using a modified console and whoever it is they are chatting with. They also want to be able to glean data from a used game console and obtain useful information about the prior owner's communications with other gamers.

An aptly-named firm called Obscure Technologies was awarded the first contract in the Navy's bid for game console clairvoyance, but their mission is more about national security than domestic snooping: it turns out terrorists like video games too. If military intelligence officers can snag actionable information from messages sent over online game networks like PSN and Xbox Live, the world could declare "Game Over" on a terrorist act before it ever occurs.

[via ZDNet]

This article originally appeared on Tecca

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