North Korea spies 'secretly working inside UK companies' and all doing same job
A worrying report has sparked fears of a North Korean threat infiltrated within British companies.
Secret agents from North Korea are infiltrating UK companies, disguised as freelance IT workers, in a bid to funnel money back to Kim Jong-un's regime, according to a recent government report.
The revelation has sent shockwaves through the UK tech sector, with numerous companies at risk of unknowingly employing these hidden operatives.
Posing as IT freelancers, North Koreans have been applying for remote jobs on popular work platforms.
By using fake identities and fraudulent CVs, they have secured roles within British companies, allowing them to generate funds for North Korea’s heavily sanctioned government.
The earnings are allegedly being used to support Kim’s notorious missile and weapons programs.
A report from the HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementations (OFSI) said: “It is almost certain that UK firms are currently being targeted by Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Information Technology (IT) workers disguised as freelance third-country IT workers to generate revenue for the regime.”
These spies use aliases, false personas, and even proxies to hide their true affiliations and ties to North Korea.
The advisory further highlighted the risk posed to UK businesses, warning: “There is a realistic possibility that this could result in sensitive or critical company information being compromised or misused by other malign DPRK cyber actors.”
Fraudsters frequently operate through bot farms managed by intermediaries within specific countries. These intermediaries use remote desktop software to enable workers from North Korea to access a company’s internal servers, creating the illusion that the activity is occurring domestically.
Some criminals are also using advanced AI techniques to impersonate foreign nationals and steal their complete identities.
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The sectors in the UK that are being impacted include information Technology (IT), electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), money Service Businesses (MSBs), professional services and cryptocurrency.
North Korean agents have been known to work through intermediaries, often logging into British networks remotely using software that conceals their true location.
These secret North Korean operatives aren’t just targeting the UK. American authorities have also flagged an increasing number of North Korean IT workers attempting to infiltrate American firms.
"This scheme is so prevalent that companies must be vigilant to verify whom they’re hiring", FBI Special Agent Jay Greenberg said in the Sun.
"At a minimum, the FBI recommends that employers take additional proactive steps with remote IT workers to make it harder for bad actors to hide their identities."
