North Korean operatives have been posing online as American remote workers to land high-paying tech jobs at top US companies, earning an estimated $300,000 a year while sending up to 95% of their income back to Pyongyang. The cyber scheme, which has generated $250-600 million annually for the regime, involves fake job profiles, AI tools to mimic accents and faces, and remote access tools to breach company networks.
Experts estimate that thousands of US firms have unwittingly hired North Koreans, including blue-chip companies like Nike. Investigators say the operation is highly adaptable, with operatives installing malicious software to hold sensitive data hostage or lock down systems for ransom. The FBI has arrested numerous American citizens accused of running laptop farms and sanctioned key figures in Pyongyang’s military intelligence agency.
The scheme also involves targeting cryptocurrency firms, with North Korean hackers stealing a total of $661 million from the crypto industry in 2023 alone. The regime’s digital thieves have shown expertise in laundering stolen funds, making it difficult to track the loot back to Pyongyang. The US government is cracking down on the threat, but experts warn that North Korea will pivot to other locations if it becomes too expensive or difficult to operate in the US.
Source: https://theweek.com/tech/hermit-kingdom-it-remote-workers-north-korea