Public sentiment is largely skeptical about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions on North Korea, acknowledging the suffering of ordinary citizens while questioning the impact on the regime. Many commenters express a mix of admiration for North Korea's cyber capabilities and concern over international security implications, advocating for a more diplomatic approach rather than continued punitive measures.

North Korea

United States

International Community

It’s crazy that we live in a world where $7.7M seems like a tiny amount of money to seize

Krunkledunker

[https://cybernews.com/cybercrime/us-seizes-7-million-crypto-north-korean-it-worker-scams/](https://cybernews.com/cybercrime/us-seizes-7-million-crypto-north-korean-it-worker-scams/)

[https://archive.ph/spC0a](https://archive.ph/spC0a)

&gt;DoJ officials say the millions in crypto were frozen in connection with a North Korean Foreign Trade Bank (FTB) representative, Sim Hyon Sop (Sim), charged back in April 2023 for facilitating two separate IT worker scams.

&gt;The illegally obtained cryptocurrency is generated through remote work done by North Korean IT workers deployed around the globe, including in China and Russia, the DoJ said.

&gt;The $7.74 million in illicit funds were seized by the feds, all before Kim Jong Il’s government was able to launder the crypto for its typical nefarious purposes.

&gt;“For years, North Korea has exploited global remote IT contracting and cryptocurrency ecosystems to evade US sanctions and bankroll its weapons programs,” said Sue J. Bai, Head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.


&gt;US blockchain companies targeted by scammers
Many of the fake workers were said to have direct communications with Sim and employed at various US companies, including at blockchain development firms, which would pay their salaries “often in stablecoins, such as USDC and USDT.”

&gt;The DoJ also revealed the scheme involved the use of stolen identification, allowing the IT workers to pose as American citizens to bypass HR security checks. The fake IT workers were also said to regularly use virtual private networks (VPNs) to hide their true location from both the hiring company and payroll facilitators.

&gt;Once the salaries began rolling in, Sim would set up US-based online accounts, also using fictitious identities, and begin moving the ill-gotten funds in small amounts to other blockchains or converting them to other forms of virtual currency – a tactic known as “chain hopping” or “token swapping.

&gt;After laundering these funds, the North Korean IT workers reportedly would send the funds directly back to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) via Sim and at times through another North Korean national named Kim Sang Man, the CEO of a North Korean tech firm with ties to the communist government.

&gt;FBI investigators said the firm, “Chinyong,” also referred to as the “Jinyong IT Cooperation Company,” is a known subordinate to North Korea’s Ministry of Defense – and on the list of the US Treasury department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) banned from doing business with US entities since 2017.

&gt;Thursday's forfeiture is part of FBI's “DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative” launched by the agency in March 2024.

&gt;As part of the law enforcement campaign, the DoJ indicted five suspects this January, accused of operating an overseas laptop farm used to trick at least 64 US companies into hiring the fake IT workers.

&gt;Several other busts have taken place, including Last August, accusing a Nashville man of running an IT worker laptop farm in Tennessee for years, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent salaries to send to the DPRK.

&gt;A civil forfeiture action allows the US government to seize funds without actually making a physical arrest of any suspect.

Landwhale6969

Hmmm… maybe “US seizes &amp;7.7M in wages paid to North Korean remote IT workers in violation of sanctions,” might be slightly closer?

DrSixSmith

[deleted]

East_Glass_4874

They did the work didn't they, not really a scam.


Definitely against sanctions but was anyone scammed here?


It's like that old saying about the dude robbing the bank by getting a job there.


Edit: Thinking on it, since the funds were seized. They might end up with free labor.

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AutoModerator

Maybe they need to have an actual face to face interview. Not video. If it has to do with military stuff, maybe they should do better background checks  and fingerprints. And make them come to office more. Or just don't hire outside of country for remote unless they are  US citizen

StatisticianIll4425

They invest very heavily in the area and send the best of their hackers to train in China and get real world experience of attacking systems.

There is an awesome BBC World Series podcast about North Korea's hackers which covers the growth in sophistication of the most dangerous NK hacking group, Lazarus, from its start defacing websites and performing denial of service attacks to their bank heists and cryptocurrency thefts. They go into quite a lot of detail about the background to the group and its training processes in some detail:

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvg9](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvg9)

iCowboy

One advantage of theirs is an absolute lack of repercussions.
While Russia and China are quite recalcitrant to prosecute and apprehend their citizens for cyber crime committed abroad, even they still must tread somewhat carefully lest they be shut out of international financial services.

NK on the other hand is already a total pariah; as long as they don't step on China's toes, their only refrain is to not give a casus belli for India or NATO. Otherwise NK hackers can do whatever in order to cause havoc or gain currency.

DrunkArhat

&gt;  I've always had the impression that NK was a very outdated country when it comes to internet, technology and infrastructure, so how do they always seem to pull off high profile attacks?

It is for the vast majority of the North Korea. NK spends it resources on weaponizing IT.

mickeyflinn

Their capacity is probably overblown, as is the case with any other secretive dictatorship like Russia or Iran. People tend to believe wild stories when they can’t see stuff clearly.

Generally I think that what you don’t see is quite in line with what you see. If what you see from outside is shitty, it is highly likely that what you don’t see is the same

Professional-Wolf849

They focus on it heavily. Instead of building a robust economy, they just take advantage of their status as an ostracized nation and use easier methods of generating revenue for the regime, like cyber crime, narcotics manufacturing, and currency counterfeiting. 

They grab children who show a natural aptitude towards technology and other skills that make a good hacker, and invest in them, training them to be hackers and affording them much more freedom and luxury than the average North Korean.

LackWooden392

All their gov investment goes there because it is also a revenue generator. They steal A LOT of cryptocurrency. Stole $1.5 billion recently from an exchange. Also a big operator of ransomware networks which also brings in cryptocurrency.

dansdansy

I am not That versed in IT but can’t anyplace in the world just block whatever pings coming from NK?

LisanneFroonKrisK

DanielSong39

Almost no North Korean attacks come from North Korean infrastructure.  I wouldn't be surprised if they're funded by China, but it doesn't take a ton of infrastructure to login to your actual attack systems in Singapore or China or wherever they're hosting it.  And yes, they do invest pretty heavily in the training side.

IOI-65536

North Korea is a satellite state for Russia and China. They could not survive without them. Ukraine isn't even a satellite state for the US but imagine asking "How can Ukraine defend itself against Russia when it has one fifth of the population and even less resources". Answer: They can't.

NewsSpecialist9796

Likely, any developed country could do much worse, but NK is unique in that they’re already totally isolated so they’re free from consequences. 

No other country is willing to risk international trade to make a quick buck

oby100

They sent their best and brightest overseas to be educated under false names and country of origin. They brought their skills back. They were able to do versions of this for equipment.

MartialBob

Chinese sponsored cyber espionage.  also probably operating under duress of failure.

hadtojointopost

The $ cost of cyber attacks is trivial compared to guns-n-bombs variety.  The cost of a army rifle is $5k+ , you can build a very decent attack workstation for much less then that.  Cyber warfare is not what people think it is, 80% is social engineering , the rest is access to pre-made tools that exploit vulnerabilities.

specimen174

Undying obedience to the government can be a powerful tool.

DontBullyMeIllCrit

It's amazing how much hardware and training you can afford if you starve most of the country.

superanth

They don’t you just confused headlines with reality

seattletribune

rusty0004

tldr; The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seized $7.74 million laundered by North Korean IT workers who used stolen U.S. identities to secure remote blockchain jobs. These workers bypassed KYC checks and funneled crypto earnings back to North Korea to support its weapons program. Operating under the Chinyong IT Cooperation Company, they used advanced laundering tactics like chain hopping and token swapping. The operation is part of the broader DPRK RevGen initiative aimed at dismantling North Korea's cyber-financial network and enforcing sanctions.

*This summary is auto generated by a bot and not meant to replace reading the original article. As always, DYOR.

coinfeeds-bot

North Korea might lack infrastructure in many sectors, but where they shine is their hackers.

NiGhTShR0uD

Yea but there's like hard working people that don't commit crimes that need deporting! We can't waste time on financial crimes commited by an actual enemy of the country....obviously

heyheyshinyCRH

proxies hella good.. this may be the real opportunity

normcrypto

light_death-note

tldr; Four North Korean nationals infiltrated an Atlanta-based blockchain startup, posing as remote developers, and stole nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency, according to federal prosecutors. Operating initially in the UAE, they later targeted U.S. and Serbian crypto firms, using fake identities to gain trust and access funds. The stolen crypto was laundered through mixers and exchanges. Experts warn that North Korea's cyber operations exploit vulnerabilities in crypto's remote-first hiring culture, emphasizing the need for stronger background checks and security measures.

*This summary is auto generated by a bot and not meant to replace reading the original article. As always, DYOR.

This is why crypto startups should never rely on outsourced devs, it might seem cheap at first, but it could end up costing more than a dozen kidneys.

GreedVault

The U.S. Treasury and Department of Justice have taken significant action against North Korean cyber schemes involving fraudulent IT workers used to generate revenue for the regime.

North Korean Cyber Fraud and Sanctions

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