North Korea’s fake tech workers now targeting European employers

North Korea’s scamming, thieving, and AI-abusing fake IT workers are increasingly targeting European employers.

The hermit kingdom (DPRK) runs a corps of operatives who apply for remote tech jobs and, if they get them, funnel their salaries to Kim Jong Un’s coffers. Some also run malware on company computers, steal their employers’ data, then demand ransom payments. Many just do a bad job – sometimes for several employers at a time – so they can be paid multiple salaries.

The workers submit impressive CVs and, if they score an interview, try to disguise their accents and appearance. Claiming their webcam is broken, and therefore being unable to appear in interviews, is a favourite tactic. So is using generative AI to create portraits, or even answers in interviews.

Sometimes the fake workers slip up after they get a job, by asking that company laptops be sent to an address that doesn ...