The U.S. has stepped up efforts combating the long-term North Korean remote IT worker fraud scheme with the introduction of charges against 14 individuals who impersonated IT workers to compromise U.S. firms for North Korean interests, according to SecurityWeek.
At least $88 million have already been earned by North Korean state-sponsored firms Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silverstar for leading operations of the six-year fraud scheme, which involved fake IT workers leveraging sophisticated obfuscation techniques and extortion tactics against U.S. companies, the unsealed indictment revealed. Meanwhile, bounties of up to $5 million have been provided by the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice Program for any information that would help in the arrest of North Korean nationals and firms involved in the scheme. "While we have disrupted this group and identified its leadership, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The government of North Korea has trained and deployed thousands of IT workers to perpetrate this same scheme against U.S. companies every day," said FBI St. Louis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson.
