US, Allies Warn Global Firms Over North Korean IT Workers Disguising To Generate Funds For Nuclear Programmes

The US said the North Korean action is also posing significant cybersecurity risks to businesses and governments.

The United States and a coalition of allied governments have issued a joint international alert warning that North Korea is increasingly deploying skilled Information Technology (IT) workers around the world under false identities to generate revenue for its unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

The US said the North Korean action is also posing significant cybersecurity risks to businesses and governments.

The alert was jointly issued by the U.S. Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), alongside government agencies from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom on Friday.

According to the governments, North Korea has established a sophisticated network of IT workers who operate both within and outside the country, using fraudulent identities to obtain remote employment through online platforms and channeling their earnings back to North Korean state agencies.