--- UPDATE: The grid appears back up, we await word from Linden Lab. --- Linden Lab, makers of besieged virtual world Second Life continue to remain almost silent on the current grid wide shutdown of the service as rumors abound of DOS attacks being staged by griefer groups. Aside from what appear to be well documented accounts of Griefer groups going after Linden "just because", there are also rumors starting to emerge that the current meltdown is the work of a group protesting at the recent shut down of all casino/gambling related businesses. According to sources that remain unverifiable at the time of writing, at least one group chat was monitored where ex casino owners were plotting a massive Denial of Service attack.
In a discussion panel held on Dr Dobb's island today, myself, Rissa Maidstone, Ziggy Figaro, Prokofy Neva and John Zhaoying discussed the recent turn of events, and though again no hard evidence of these groups is available, it seemed more than plausible, with similar stories and accounts coming in from multiple sources. One other topic was, funnily enough, security, or lack there of in Second Life.
One thing's for certain. Linden Lab's silence is not inspiring any confidence amongst residents with stakes in the virtual world right now. A little transparency and communication would go a long way.
