{
  "id": 14374203,
  "title": "Cybersecurity researchers disciplined for playing StarCraft during work hours",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/cybersecurity-researchers-disciplined-for-playing-starcraft-during",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-14T05:22:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20261014/cybersecurity-researchers-disciplined-for-playing-starcraft-during-work-hours"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Five employees at the National Security Research Institute's Cyber Security Training Center have been disciplined for engaging in video gaming during work hours, according to a report by Rep. Hwang Jung-a, a Korean lawmaker. The investigation revealed that the staff members had spent up to 90 hours connected to the online gaming service Battle.net, which is utilized for playing StarCraft, a strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The disciplinary actions came to light after the employees continued to access the game server on their work computers between September and December 2024, while their supervisor was absent on vacation or on business trips. One employee was found to have spent an entire day playing for an impressive eight hours and 53 minutes. Another employee remained connected for an extended period but the exact duration is not specified in the source material.",
  "summary": "Employees at a government-funded research institute responsible for national cybersecurity have been disciplined after they were caught playing video games together during work hours. According to data obtained by Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, from the National Security Research…",
  "key_points": [
    "Five employees disciplined for gaming during work hours",
    "Employees spent up to 90 hours on Battle.net",
    "One employee played StarCraft for 8 hours 53 minutes"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Exploiting supervisor absences to play video games on government hardware exposes significant gaps in internal oversight and threatens the professional integrity of specialized national security training centers.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Cybersecurity researchers disciplined for playing StarCraft during work hours",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/cybersecurity-researchers-disciplined-for-playing-starcraft-during-14377872",
        "published": "2026-10-14T05:42:04.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}