**North Koreans Pose as IT Pros to Bankroll Kim’s Nukes**
*By Akash Pandey | Oct 06, 2025, 11:08 AM*
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**The Story**
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), North Korean IT workers have been leveraging their technical skills to fund Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions. Thousands of North Korean men, trained in information technology, are reportedly stealing identities and faking resumes to secure high-paying remote tech jobs in the United States and other wealthy nations.
Using advanced artificial intelligence (AI), these operatives fabricate work and conceal their faces and true identities, enabling their schemes to remain undetected.
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**Financial Impact**
This elaborate scheme has targeted hundreds of Fortune 500 companies, aerospace manufacturers, and financial institutions—including banks and small cryptocurrency startups. The FBI estimates that between hundreds of millions to as much as $1 billion has been channeled back to Kim’s government over the past five years.
These funds are believed to support North Korea’s ambition to become a nuclear-armed force, further escalating global security concerns.
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**Widespread Infiltration**
Beyond IT roles, North Korean operatives have infiltrated other industries by posing as Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) specialists, engineers, and architects. They have even created blueprints and secured municipal approvals with AI assistance.
This scheme has extended its reach across Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, demonstrating a broad and sophisticated campaign.
In response, US, Japanese, and South Korean government officials met in Tokyo in late August to strengthen collaboration and combat these ongoing attacks.
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**Risks Involved**
Companies face a dual threat from this scheme: not only the risk of foreign government agents penetrating their internal systems but also the legal risks associated with unknowingly violating sanctions against North Korea.
Such violations could compromise national security for the US and its allies. Jeanine Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, emphasized the severity during a July press conference:
*”This is a code red. Your tech sectors are being infiltrated by North Korea.”*
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**Worker Exploitation**
It’s important to note that the North Korean men engaged in these deceptions are also victims of a brutal regime. They are often separated from their families and forced to work remotely at offshore sites. Failure to generate sufficient revenue for the North Korean government can lead to severe punishments, including beatings, imprisonment, threats against their loved ones, and other human rights abuses.
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This disturbing revelation highlights the complex and multifaceted nature of cybersecurity threats that intertwine criminal activity, geopolitical tensions, and human rights concerns on a global scale.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/fake-north-korean-tech-workers-helped-fund-kim-s-nuclear-ambitions/story