Amazon blocks 1,800 job applications linked to suspected North Korean agents
In June, the US government said it had uncovered 29 laptop farms being illegally operated across the country by North Korean IT workers.
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Amazon has blocked more than 1,800 job applications from suspected North Korean agents attempting to secure remote IT roles, according to a senior company executive.
Amazon chief security officer Stephen Schmidt stated in a LinkedIn post that North Korean operatives were attempting to apply for remote technology jobs using stolen or fabricated identities. He informed that the objective of such applicants was to get hired, receive salaries and funnel the wages back to fund North Korea’s weapons programmes, adding that the activity was likely occurring at scale across the technology industry, particularly in the United States.
Authorities in the United States and South Korea have previously warned about online scams carried out by operatives linked to Pyongyang, as per a report by the BBC. Schmidt stated that Amazon had seen a nearly one-third increase in job applications from suspected North Korean sources over the past year.
He said these operatives typically work with individuals managing so-called laptop farms, referring to computers physically located in the United States but operated remotely from outside the country. Schmidt informed that Amazon used a combination of artificial intelligence tools and human verification processes to screen applications and identify suspicious activity.
According to Schmidt, the tactics used by such fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated. He stated that bad actors were hijacking dormant LinkedIn accounts using leaked login credentials to gain verification and were targeting genuine software engineers to make their profiles appear credible. He urged companies to report suspicious job applications to the authorities.
Schmidt warned employers to remain alert to signs of fraudulent applications linked to North Korea, including incorrectly formatted phone numbers and inconsistencies in education histories.
In June, the US government said it had uncovered 29 laptop farms being illegally operated across the country by North Korean IT workers. The Department of Justice stated that these operations relied on stolen or forged identities of Americans to help North Korean nationals obtain jobs in the US and added that it had indicted US-based brokers who assisted in securing employment for the operatives.
In July, a woman from Arizona was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for running a laptop farm that helped North Korean IT workers secure remote roles at more than 300 US companies. The Department of Justice stated that the scheme generated over $17 million in illicit gains for her and the North Korean regime.
