North Korea’s IT Workers expand beyond US big tech
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Okta Threat Intelligence has conducted a large-scale analysis revealing that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) IT worker scheme threatens nearly every industry that hires remote talent.
While public reporting has primarily focused on DPRK nationals targeting software development roles at major US technology companies, our analysis shows that this threat is not limited to the tech sector, nor the US. North Korean IT Workers (ITW) now pose a real threat to a wide range of industries. Impacted industries include finance, healthcare, public administration, and professional services across a growing number of countries. This widespread scheme aims to gain illicit employment and — in some cases — steal sensitive data.
Just how expansive is this threat? Our analysis of thousands of examples from our sample of DPRK ITW activity found that Information and Technology organizations represent only half of the targeted entities. We also found that over a quarter (27%) of …
While public reporting has primarily focused on DPRK nationals targeting software development roles at major US technology companies, our analysis shows that this threat is not limited to the tech sector, nor the US. North Korean IT Workers (ITW) now pose a real threat to a wide range of industries. Impacted industries include finance, healthcare, public administration, and professional services across a growing number of countries. This widespread scheme aims to gain illicit employment and — in some cases — steal sensitive data.
Just how expansive is this threat? Our analysis of thousands of examples from our sample of DPRK ITW activity found that Information and Technology organizations represent only half of the targeted entities. We also found that over a quarter (27%) of …