The U.S. Treasury Department approved two people and four entities involved in North Korea-operated IT workers’ rings, which will penetrate crypto companies to exploit them.
Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) explain On Tuesday, it approved North Korea’s song Kum Hyok allegedly stealing information from U.S. citizens for use as an alias and handing it over to hired foreign IT workers who will seek employment at U.S. companies.
OFAC also approved Russian national Asatryan to use his company to hire dozens of North Korean IT workers under a long-term agreement signed with North Korea trading companies in 2024.
More and more fraudulent tech workers are linked to North Korea, officially the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) Expand their penetration operationsIn Google’s April report, the program’s infrastructure has spread worldwide.
“The Treasury remains committed to using all available tools to undermine the Kim regime’s efforts to mimic Americans and malicious cyberattacks through its digital asset theft,” said Michael Faulkender, deputy secretary of the Treasury.
Thousands of IT workers fund missile programs with wealthier countries
OFAC said North Korea aims to generate revenue for its ballistic missile program by deploying a thousand labor force of highly skilled IT workers around the world, most of which are located in China and Russia.
The workforce is primarily targeted at employers in wealthier countries and uses a variety of mainstream and industry-specific online platforms, the OFAC said.
this Sanctions It means that all U.S. assets related to Assatrien, songs and four Russian entities are frozen. It is also illegal for people in the United States to conduct any financial transactions or trade them under the threat of civil and criminal penalties.
North Korea from hacker attack
North Korea is notorious for its high-profile hackers For example, Lazarus Groupand responsible for the largest crypto hacker attack ever For example, the 1.5 billion USD bybit utilization In February.
However, blockchain intelligence company TRM Lab explain On Tuesday, they began to change their tactics.
“Although exchange violations are still large, DPRK-related businesses are increasingly shifting to fraud-based revenue generation, including infiltration of IT workers,” the company said.
TRM Labs estimates North Korea is responsible for $2.1 billion of stolen $1.6 billion Cross 75 encryption hacks and vulnerabilities In the first half of 2025.
US suppresses North Korean IT workers
This year, U.S. authorities are increasingly cracking down on fraudulent North Korean IT workers’ programs.
Related: North Korea uses new information to promote malware against crypto workers
On June 30, four North Korean nationals were Accused of wire fraud and money laundering After working as remote workers for us and Serbian blockchain companies.
Meanwhile, on June 5, the U.S. Department of Justice said it was Trying to grab $7.74 million in frozen cryptocurrency North Korean IT workers allegedly use fake identities and work as remote contractors at blockchain companies.
Magazine: North Korean crypto hacker Tap Chatgpt, Malaysian road currency: Asian express
