North Korea Recruits Third-Country IT Workers to Infiltrate U.S. Firms

According to an NBC News report cited by Cointelegraph, North Korea is recruiting remote IT workers from countries like Iran and Lebanon to help infiltrate U.S. companies. These individuals are hired via LinkedIn as interview assistants for $500 in cryptocurrency per month, allowing North Korean operatives to take over the actual jobs after the interviews. U.S. authorities have warned that these workers pose insider threats, including data and cryptocurrency theft. North Korea-linked hackers reportedly caused over $2 billion in crypto losses in 2025, a 51% increase year-over-year.