The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday sanctioned three North Koreans and their company for participating in remote IT worker scams and other operations designed to generate revenue for Pyongyang.
The sanctions target the North Korean firm Korea Sobaeksu Trading Co., Sobaeksu employee Kim Se Un, Sobaeksu “IT team leader” Jo Kyong Hun and Kim’s associate Myong Chol Min.
The Treasury Department calls Sobaeksu a front for North Korea’s Munitions Industry Department, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapons program. North Korea “has previously utilized Sobaeksu to send teams of IT workers overseas, including to Vietnam, in order to generate revenue,” the department said.
According to Treasury, Kim used Sobaeksu and “various subordinate companies” to collect money for North Korea through remote IT worker schemes, Jo helped Kim with the cryptocurrency aspects of the schemes and Myong “worked closely” with Kim to “facilitate various business deals and avoid sanctions” throughout the process.
North Korean IT workers have increasingly infiltrated U.S. companies in recent years, with the intruders using their access to exfiltrate proprietary data and other information.
The charges, sanctions and reward offers are part of a renewed effort by U.S. officials to crack down on Pyongyang’s use of remote IT worker schemes to steal money and compromise sensitive corporate data. In June, federal prosecutors announced charges in two separate IT-worker scams, arresting one defendant in the U.S. and seizing the operatives’ devices and cryptocurrency.
On Wednesday, the FBI warned businesses to be on the lookout for these scams. “Companies that outsource IT work to third-party vendors can face additional vulnerabilities,” the bureau noted, “since these companies are removed from the direct hiring process.”
In tandem with the sanctions, the Justice Department is charging Kim, Myong and five other North Koreans for allegedly engaging in sanctions-evasion activities, including buying and selling tobacco to obtain U.S. dollars.
The State Department is offering up to $15 million in rewards for information leading to the arrest of any of the seven defendants.
On Wednesday, the FBI warned businesses to be on the lookout for North Korea’s scams. “Companies that outsource IT work to third-party vendors can face additional vulnerabilities,” the bureau noted, “since these companies are removed from the direct hiring process.
