"Creating Fake Resumes and Pretending to Be Koreans"... What North Korea Did to Steal Cryptocurrency

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On the 1st (local time), Bloomberg reported that North Korea is pretending to be people from other countries by creating fake resumes using profiles posted on social networking services (SNS) to steal cryptocurrency.

Bloomberg cited cybersecurity experts including the US security research company Mandiant to report this. According to Bloomberg, North Korean hackers searched job listings on job-seeking SNS platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed.com, then included other people's work experience in their resumes to get employed at cryptocurrency companies.

A job seeker suspected to be North Korean, confirmed by Mandiant on the 14th of last month, described themselves in their resume as an "innovative and strategic thinker" and said, "The world will see great results from my hands," which was almost identical to expressions found in another person's resume.

Another job seeker suspected to be North Korean pretended to be a senior software developer at a consulting company focused on blockchain technology, and some were identified by Mandiant as multiple individuals suspected to be North Korean who were successfully hired as freelancers on recruitment sites.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Bloomberg reported that these findings by Mandiant reinforce the North Korean activities publicly warned about by the US government in May. At that time, the US government warned that North Korean IT workers were trying to secure funds for weapons development programs by pretending not to be North Korean and seeking freelance jobs overseas. The US government also explained that North Korean workers disguised themselves as remote workers based in South Korea, China, Japan, Eastern Europe, and the United States.

An executive at the blockchain company Aztec Network shared a shocking and terrible experience of interviewing a person who might be a North Korean hacker in April and urged caution. Google also reported that individuals suspected to be North Korean agents created fake websites mimicking recruitment sites such as ZipRecruiter and Disney's hiring site.

Bloomberg conveyed experts' views that as it becomes harder for North Korea to steal money from banks and the international financial system, they are focusing on cryptocurrency theft. Joe Dobson, senior analyst at Mandiant, said, "Banks have become safer, and cryptocurrency is a completely new market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.