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North Koreans apply for remote IT work. How? Fake names, resumes and profiles
The documents detail the workings of North Korea's remote IT workforce and contain dozens of fraudulent resumes.
North Korean IT workers are seeking employment in Western tech companies using sophisticated subterfuge to get hired. With the use of fake names, sham LinkedIn profiles, counterfeit work papers and mock interview scripts, North Koreans wish to land a job outside the country to secretly earn hard currency as per news agency Reuters.
A former North Korean IT worker and several cybersecurity researchers told Reuters that North Korea dispatched thousands of IT workers overseas to bring in millions to finance Pyongyang's nuclear missile programme.
An interview script used by North Korean software developers which offers suggestions to answer a question on "good corporate culture" reads, “People are free to express ideas and opinions.” Some also contain excuses for the need to work remotely.
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The scripts totalling 30 pages, were found by researchers at Palo Alto Networks, a US cybersecurity firm. The documents detail the workings of North Korea's remote IT workforce and contain dozens of fraudulent resumes, online profiles, interview notes, and forged identities.
It also revealed some of the tools and techniques used by North Korean workers to convince firms to employ them in jobs.
"Richard", a senior embedded software developer, said "I (flew) to Singapore several weeks ago. My parents got Covid and I (decided) to be with family members for a while. Now, I am planning to go back to Los Angeles in three months. I am thinking that I could start work remotely right now, then I will be on board when I go back to LA."
A North Korean IT worker who recently defected confirmed the authenticity of the documents to Reuters, saying, “We would create 20 to 50 fake profiles a year until we were hired. Once I was hired, I would create another fake profile to get a second job."
Sokeel Park of Liberty in North Korea (LINK), an organisation that works with defectors, said, “There is a risk to the North Korea government, as these privileged workers are exposed to dangerous realities about the world and their country's enforced backwardness.”
