UK Also Sees Surge in 'North Korean IT Job Scams'... "Thousands of Companies, Including Banks, Targeted"

The Telegraph: "Methods Growing Increasingly Brazen"
Targeting Jobs in Blockchain and Cybersecurity

Following the United States, North Korean IT workers posing as foreign job seekers are also increasingly active in the United Kingdom, a report has found.

On October 31 local time, the British daily The Telegraph reported, based on interviews with people at companies targeted by North Korean operatives posing as job seekers and with experts, that North Korea has recently been targeting the United Kingdom as a destination for employment and that its methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated and brazen.

North Korea divides its IT operatives into several categories and deploys them to regions such as China, Russia and Southeast Asia, where international monitoring is lax. It has them pose as legitimate overseas remote workers and submit large numbers of job applications. Once hired, they use artificial intelligence (AI) to work for several companies at the same time and send most of their wages to the regime. The money they earn is used to fund North Korea's nuclear and missile development.

Experts have warned that North Korea has recently expanded this approach, previously used against U.S. companies, to the United Kingdom.

According to a recent report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) on North Korean overseas workers, North Korean IT workers operate in 17 countries, earn an average of $10,000 (13.35 million won) a month, and send more than 90% of their earnings back home. Adrian Cheek, a cybercrime researcher, said North Korean IT workers have an employment success rate of around 0.3%. Because they submit such a large volume of applications, some job seekers receive at least one job offer a day, he said.

They said the workers mainly seek jobs at blockchain networks and cybersecurity companies. These are generally relatively junior positions in which much of the work can be done using AI. The Telegraph reported that two major British banks and pharmaceutical companies had also been targeted. Some of these companies are said to have actually hired North Korean workers and proceeded with onboarding. The names of the companies have not been disclosed for security reasons.

"It is highly likely that North Korea has targeted thousands of British companies," Cheek said, warning that "North Korea is targeting every country in major markets, particularly across the United Kingdom." He added that there were also indications that North Korean workers had applied for positions in the British civil service.

North Korean operatives also make extensive use of AI during the hiring process.

In August, The Telegraph took part in an IT worker interview organized by Seaside, an organization that detects scams involving North Korean workers posing as job seekers, and observed the interview of an applicant suspected of being a North Korean IT worker. The applicant, who gave the name Sean Michael Tyng, described himself as a software engineer from Tennessee in the United States. However, suspicious signs emerged as the interview progressed.

Whenever he was asked a question, the applicant shifted his gaze as if reading something off-screen, while his video and audio kept cutting out. The interview ended after the interviewer asked him to slowly wave his hand in front of his face to check for deepfake use.

Some North Korean workers also pose as recruiters. They do so to gather information about overseas job markets and gain access to strategically important industries such as aerospace and defense.

North Korean workers are also exploiting the UK's company registration system, which makes it relatively easy to establish a business. Agents linked to North Korean workers are said to use the system to set up shell companies and open bank accounts in their names. Such companies can be used to conceal the workers' identities and make money earned overseas appear to be legitimate business income.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.