Woman is sentenced in the US for helping North Koreans infiltrate technology companies

By Hannah Pérez

Using stolen identities of American citizens, it helped North Korea agents infiltrate as remote workers in more than 300 companies. Cryptocurrency firms face this threat.

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• Department of Justice condemns a woman who helped agents of North Korea.
• Using stolen identities, it helped to get work in 300 US companies.
• One of the largest cases of sentence due to North Korea infiltration in Tech companies.
• North Korean actors point to Blockchain companies to steal information and cryptocurrencies.

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A woman from Arizona, the United States, has been sentenced for helping North Korean workers to infiltrate American technology companies, generating millions of dollars for the North Korean regime.

Christina Marie Chapman, 50, was sentenced by a court in the US Obtain remote jobs in more than 300 US companies. The US Department of Justice reported Thursday.

In a statement, the United States Prosecutor’s Office for the Columbia district said Chapman helped North Korean actors to impersonate US citizens and residents, compromising the identity of 68 American people and generating More than USD $ 17 million in illicit income for her and for the Democratic Popular Republic of Korea (RPDC).

“North Korea is not just a distant threat to the homeland. It is an internal enemy. He is committing fraud against US citizens, US companies and American banks“The prosecutor Jeanine Ferris Pirro commented.

Helped North Korea agents to infiltrate

In addition to stealing identities, the woman operated a “laptop“Where she received and housed computers from US companies at home, so that companies believed that workers were in the United States.

According to prosecutors, Chapman received and falsified payroll checks in the name of stolen identities and received workers’ salaries in their own bank accounts, who then transferred to people abroad.

The case is One of the greatest infiltration schemes of Information Technology (IT) of North Korea (the United States Department of Justice in its history, according to the statement.

In particular, the authorities said that 309 US companies and 2 international companies were disappointed as part of the plan, including one of the five main television networks, a technology company in Silicon Valley, an aerospace manufacturer, a car manufacturer, a luxury retail store and a media and entertainment company.

Cryptocurrency companies between the objectives

Despite the magnitude of the fraud scheme, the case is far from isolated. In addition, although the Prosecutor’s Office does not mention cryptocurrency companies in the statement, multiple reports produced in recent months reflect the growing infiltrations of North Korean malicious actors in startups and projects Blockchainoften with the intention of stealing cryptocurrencies.

In April, researchers from Google They warned that North Korean agents were going through citizens from other countries to ensure jobs in companies in Europe, threatening the security and theft of data from organizations. The investigation found that the projects based on Solarium It was one of the objectives of these fraud schemes.

Shortly after, in May, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken He said he was frustrated an attempt to attack this type, when he identified a hacker linked to the North Korean government who tried to enter his team applying to a labor offer.

The United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned a North Korean citizen who was part of these schemes, helping North Korean IT workers to Infiltrate in foreign cryptocurrency companies with the aim of sending funds back to Pyongyang and even exploiting platforms from within.

The organization of computer pirates of North Korea, Lazarus Group– positively the most notable in the country – receives credit for some of the hacks and the robberies of higher profile cryptocurrencies in history. The group was identified at the beginning of the year as responsible for the mass robbery of cryptocurrency exchange Bybit for more than USD $ 1.5 billion.

Chapman’s sentence

Chapman declared himself guilty in February for conspiracy to commit electronic fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to wash monetary instruments. In addition to the 102 -month prison sentence, it has been ordered to turn three years of supervised freedom, lose USD $ 284,555 that should be paid to the North Koreans and pay a sanction of USD $ 176,850.

“Today’s judgment demonstrates how far the North Korean government will come in its efforts and resources to finance its illegal activities. The FBI continues to chase these threatening actors to disturb their network and hold them to hold them wherever they are“, Said Heith R. Janke, a special agent in charge of the FBI in Phoenix.

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Hannah Estefanía Pérez / Diariobitcoin

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