On May 16, the US Department of Justice announced that North Korean-linked IT workers, posing as Americans, defrauded millions from American companies.
According to the original announcement, the DOJ said that over 300 U.S. firms were infiltrated and the identities of over 60 Americans were stolen. Their identities were stolen to be used as covers for the fake IT workers.
As part of the infiltration, the North Korean-linked IT workers defrauded US firms of at least “$6.8 million” according to a statement from the State Department. The statement also noted that the individuals associated with the scheme were linked to North Korea’s Munitions Industry Department.
Revenue for the North Korean state was not the only goal, as according to the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Nicole Argentieri, North Korean operators also stole “proprietary information” from the defrauded companies.
The fake IT workers utilized ‘laptop farms’, where a contact inside the US would set up numerous laptops where the workers would ‘remote in’. This gave the workers US IP addresses, which helped conceal the scheme.
