US government busts North Korean scheme using remote IT workers to fund nuclear weapons

The U.S. Department of Justice recently made a big move against North Korea’s secret operation involving remote IT workers in American tech companies. These workers were not only raising funds for the regime’s nuclear weapons program but also stealing data and cryptocurrency.

### The Arrest and Indictment
As part of the DOJ’s efforts, U.S. national Zhenxing “Danny” Wang was arrested and indicted for running a fraudulent scheme to sneak North Korean IT workers into U.S. tech companies. The scheme generated over $5 million in revenue for North Korea, with allegations including wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft.

### The Co-Conspirators
In addition to Wang, eight more individuals were indicted, including Chinese and Taiwanese nationals. They were accused of wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft, hacking, and violating sanctions. These individuals were part of a larger group of North Korean cyber operatives targeting U.S. companies.

### The Seizures
The FBI conducted searches across 14 states, seizing laptops, web domains, financial accounts, and remote access devices used in the scheme. Five North Korean nationals were indicted for wire fraud and money laundering after stealing over $900,000 in cryptocurrency from two companies.

The U.S. government’s crackdown on this elaborate scheme has exposed the lengths to which North Korea will go to fund its illicit activities.