US warns companies against inadvertently hiring North Korean IT workers

The US government issued a warning of the risks of inadvertently hiring North Korean IT workers trying to get remote working jobs, such as software and mobile application development.

 

The advisory, issued on Monday by the US State Department, US Treasury Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, claimed that IT workers from North Korea are attempting to gain employment with businesses by hiding their true identities for nefarious purposes, such as circumventing sanctions and conducting malicious cyber intrusions.

 

These workers allegedly take advantage of the shift to remote work and existing demands for IT skills to gain freelance employment contracts from organizations based in regions like the US, Europe, and East Asia. They use VPNs to appear to be connecting to the internet from inconspicuous locations. The statement said that most workers are placed in North Korea, China, and Russia, and a smaller number are based in Africa and Southeast Asia.

 

Once employed, these workers provide a critical stream of revenue to help the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government to generate revenue and fund its weapons programs in violation of international sanctions. In recent months, North Korea has conducted several missile tests. North Korea, notably, conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in March.

 

The advisory stated that the DPRK dispatches thousands of highly skilled IT workers worldwide to generate revenue for the ballistic missile programs, violating US and UN sanctions.

 

Even though DPRK IT workers are normally engaged in IT work unrelated to malicious cyber activity, they have used privileged access gained as contractors to enable the DPRK’s malicious cyber intrusions, according to the statement. Companies that hire North Korean workers may face legal consequences for breaking sanctions.