FBI disrupts North Korean ‘laptop farm’ used to infiltrate US companies
ByDavid DiMolfetta,
Cybersecurity Reporter, Nextgov/FCW
October 13, 2026 04:35 PM ET
Agents seized nearly 190 laptops across Texas in a crackdown on fraudulent remote workers whose earnings help fund Pyongyang’s weapons programs.
The FBI searched more than 40 Texas residences and seized 187 laptops and other devices used to help North Korean operatives obtain remote jobs at U.S. companies under false identities, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The effort, dubbed Operation Lonestar Roundup, targeted “laptop farms” that housed employer-issued computers and allowed workers overseas to access them remotely. U.S.-based facilitators configured the devices and transferred earnings to North Korean-controlled accounts, according to the Justice Department.
CrowdStrike, which provided intelligence and technical analysis to support the FBI’s work, said the broader operation affected a campaign targeting more than 70 U.S. companies and included two arrests in Ohio. The company did not identify those arrested or...
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