23/09/2020: Video game loot boxes: another form of gambling?

The government is asking for the public’s opinion about the impact of loot boxes in video games, in an eight-week consultation. Loot boxes are a controversial feature of many video games – both . . . console and mobile. When a player purchases a loot box, they only find out what is inside it once they have paid. It may contain a digital prize that’s valuable within the game, but equally it may contain nothing useful.
BBC

23/09/2020: Dark web drugs raid leads to 179 arrests

Police forces around the world have seized more than $6.5m (£5m) in cash and virtual currencies, as well as drugs and guns in a co-ordinated raid on dark web marketplaces. Some 179 people were . . . arrested across Europe and the US, and 500kg (1,102lb) of drugs and 64 guns confiscated. It ends the “golden age” of these underground marketplaces, Europol said. “The hidden internet is no longer hidden”, said Edvardas Sileris, head of Europol’s cyber-crime centre.
BBC

21/09/2020: Cyber threat to disrupt start of university term

Universities and colleges are being warned by the UK’s cyber-security agency that rising numbers of cyber-attacks are threatening to disrupt the start of term. The National Cyber Security Centre has . . . issued an alert after a recent spike in attacks on educational institutions. These have been “ransomware” incidents which block access to computer systems.
BBC