North Korea Hires Third-Country IT Workers to Infiltrate US Companies

North Korea has been using remote workers from third countries to infiltrate US companies and obtain funds for its weapons programs, according to an alert issued by the US government. The report stated that North Korean IT workers seek out contracts with the intent of remitting their salaries to their parent agencies in North Korea.

The alert also warned that these workers pose an insider threat to companies and are involved in data exfiltration, cryptocurrency theft, and sensitive information theft.

As a result of increasing countermeasures by governments, North Korea has turned to hiring third-country IT workers to pass job interviews. These foreign workers are then replaced by North Korean operatives once the contract is obtained.

The report claimed that some foreign IT workers were scouted on LinkedIn and offered $500 monthly in cryptocurrency to work part-time as 'interview associates.'