WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday (Dec 12) offered a US$5 million (S$6.7 million) reward for information about an alleged scheme in which North Korean technology workers got jobs at unsuspecting US companies then stole their trade secrets for ransom, with the proceeds used to fund Pyongyang's weapons programs.
The US State Department said about 130 North Korean workers got IT jobs at US companies and nonprofits from 2017 to 2023 and generated at least US$88 million (S$118.6 million) that Pyongyang used for weapons of mass destruction.
Part of the total was the workers' compensation from the employers, which ultimately went to the North Korean government, the US said. The companies were not identified.
The North Korea mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The State Department said in a statement it sought information on two sanctioned North Korean companies — China-based Yanbian Silverstar Network Technology and Russia-based Volasys Silverstar — that it said handled the workers.
The US Department of Justice separately on Thursday announced indictments of 14 North Koreans accused of operating and working for the two companies as part of the scheme.
Operating from either China or Russia, the workers stole sensitive company information, including proprietary source computer code, and threatened to leak it unless the employer made an extortion payment, the government said.
The 14 people were charged with wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft among other offences.
"To prop up its brutal regime, the North Korean government directs IT workers to gain employment through fraud, steal sensitive information from US companies and syphon money back to the DPRK," Deputy US Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement, using an acronym for the North Korean state.
The people and their unnamed associates used the stolen identities of hundreds of Americans to get hired under the scheme, the government said.
People in the US aided the scheme by purchasing laptops or receiving laptops from US employers for the fraudulent workers. The Justice Department has obtained indictments of Americans accused of operating so-called laptop farms in recent months.
One North Korean IT defector told Reuters in November 2023 that he would try to get hired and then create additional fake social media profiles to secure more jobs.
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