How North Korea Infiltrated the Crypto Industry
Contents
How North Korea Infiltrated the Crypto Industry
More than a dozen blockchain firms inadvertently hired undercover IT workers from the rogue state, incurring cybersecurity and legal risks, a CoinDesk investigation found.
- CoinDesk identified more than a dozen crypto companies that unknowingly hired IT workers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including such well-established blockchain projects as Injective, ZeroLend, Fantom, Sushi, Yearn Finance and Cosmos Hub.
- The workers used fake IDs, successfully navigated interviews, passed reference checks and presented genuine work histories.
- Hiring DPRK workers is against the law in the U.S. and other countries that sanction North Korea. It also presents a security risk: CoinDesk encountered multiple examples of companies hiring DPRK IT workers and subsequently getting hacked.
- "Everyone is struggling to filter out these people," said Zaki Manian, a prominent blockchain developer who says he inadvertently hired two DPRK IT workers to help develop the Cosmos Hub blockchain …
More than a dozen blockchain firms inadvertently hired undercover IT workers from the rogue state, incurring cybersecurity and legal risks, a CoinDesk investigation found.
- CoinDesk identified more than a dozen crypto companies that unknowingly hired IT workers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including such well-established blockchain projects as Injective, ZeroLend, Fantom, Sushi, Yearn Finance and Cosmos Hub.
- The workers used fake IDs, successfully navigated interviews, passed reference checks and presented genuine work histories.
- Hiring DPRK workers is against the law in the U.S. and other countries that sanction North Korea. It also presents a security risk: CoinDesk encountered multiple examples of companies hiring DPRK IT workers and subsequently getting hacked.
- "Everyone is struggling to filter out these people," said Zaki Manian, a prominent blockchain developer who says he inadvertently hired two DPRK IT workers to help develop the Cosmos Hub blockchain …