{
  "id": 14377872,
  "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",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-14T05:42:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20261014/cybersecurity-researchers-disciplined-for-playing-starcraft-during-work-hours"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a government-funded cybersecurity research institute, five employees have faced disciplinary action for gaming during work hours, according to information provided by Rep. Hwang Jung-a, a member of Korea's National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. The National Security Research Institute (NSR), a division of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), investigated and discovered that the employees had spent up to 90 hours connected to Battle.net, the online gaming service utilized for the strategy game StarCraft, during working hours from September to December 2024. StarCraft is a game created by the U.S. video game company Blizzard Entertainment. The disciplinary actions arose after the employees repeatedly accessed the game server on their work computers while their supervisor was absent on vacation or on business trips. One individual was found to be connected for a record-breaking eight hours and 53 minutes in a single day, while another employee remained connected for an unspecified duration.",
  "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": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "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",
        "published": "2026-10-14T05:22:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}