US EditionReport Reveals North Korea's 100,000 Fake IT Workers Earn $500M a Year
Approximately 100,000 North Korean fake IT workers operate across 40 countries, generating around $500 million yearly for Pyongyang and enabling corporate data theft, researchers say.
- On March 18, 2026, Flare and IBM X-Force published a report citing US assessments that upwards of 100,000 North Koreans in 40 countries generate $500 million annually for Pyongyang.
- Researchers say the operation runs as a managed ecosystem of recruiters, facilitators, IT workers, and collaborators who use fake US identities to secure jobs, generating steady revenue for the regime.
- Nisos' undercover probe found at least 20 operatives who applied to 160,000 roles and observed about 40 devices on a Florida home network, 20 forming a laptop farm linked to DPRK VPNs.
- On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned six individuals and two entities, while heightened enforcement over the past year charged at least ten alleged U.S.-based facilitators.
- In recent years analysts warn North Korea's ties with Chinese money laundering networks boost its cashout ability, the report notes the scheme helps evade sanctions and fund weapons and ballistic missile programs, while CrowdStrike reports a 220% rise in 2025 fraudulent employment incidents.
20 Articles
20 Articles
North Korea deployed 100,000 fake IT workers to infiltrate Western companies, making $500M a year for Kim Jong Un
According to cybersecurity firms Flare Research and IBM X-Force, North Korea is using a network of more than 100,000 hackers, developers, and IT operatives to infiltrate global companies, steal people's private data, and funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kim Jong-Un regime.Read Entire Article
Globe Newswire
Business InsiderFlare and IBM X-Force Uncover the Infrastructure Behind North Korea’s Global IT Worker Fraud
MONTREAL, March 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Flare, the leader in Threat Exposure Management, today released new joint research with IBM X-Force, an elite global team of hackers, cyber defenders,
He was a perfect hire — until a U.S. company exposed him as a likely North Korean operative
North Korea has engaged in a wide-ranging effort to place remote workers at U.S. companies in order to funnel money back to its coffers and, in some cases, steal sensitive information.
North Korea is financing its nuclear weapons program with IT jobs in Western companies. Sensitive data can also flow away. The USA reacts with sanctions.read more on t3n.de
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