US Sanctions Russian National, Chinese Firm Aiding North Korean IT Workers

US Treasury sanctions Russian and Chinese entities tied to North Korea’s use of fake IT workers, who exploited stolen identities, AI, and malware to funnel millions back to Pyongyang.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Wednesday announced sanctions against a Russian national and a Chinese company for their roles in North Korean fraudulent IT worker schemes.

Over the past several years, hundreds of US companies are believed to have been duped into hiring North Korean nationals that used false or stolen identities to obtain IT employment and funnel the fraudulently obtained revenue to the Pyongyang regime.

Using fraudulent documents, stolen personal information, and AI to hide their true identities, and aided by individuals and organizations in the US and elsewhere to hide their location, these fake IT workers netted hundreds of millions of dollars, the US Treasury says.

In some cases, the fraudulent ...