Identities of More Than 80 Americans Stolen for North Korean IT Worker Scams
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Summary
American law enforcement has cracked down on North Korean citizens who have been secretly applying for tech jobs in the US, and stealing the identities of more than 80 people in order to do so.
The Department of Justice has indicted two Americans, both based in New Jersey, for enabling the scheme, while the FBI has arrested one of the pair and carried out raids on 21 “laptop farms” that hosted the PCs accessed by North Koreans working remotely.
In addition, the entities seized 200 PCs, 21 domains and 29 financial accounts that were being used in the operation.
North Korea uses such schemes to evade sanctions and to steal money and data.
Although the enforcement actions are a significant setback for the regime, it is likely to adapt and continue attempting to infiltrate Western and US companies, says an investigator at DTEX, a cybersecurity firm.
