FBI Disrupts North Korean ‘Laptop Farm’ Used to Infiltrate US Companies
Federal agents say the network funneled 85% to 90% of worker earnings to North Korea and targeted more than 70 U.S. companies.
- On Tuesday, the DOJ announced the arrests of Michael James Bostelle of Pennsylvania and Juan Ceclilio Pena Carrillo of Texas for facilitating a scheme helping North Korean IT workers steal identities and obtain fraudulent employment at U.S. companies.
- The North Korea-directed operation relies on U.S.-based "laptop farms" where facilitators host company-issued devices, allowing overseas workers to log in remotely and appear as if operating from within the United States.
- During "Operation Lone Star Roundup," federal agents raided more than 40 Texas locations between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25, seizing more than 185 devices; the fraud impacted more than 70 U.S. companies and generated at least $3 million.
- Prosecutors charged Bostelle and Pena with wire fraud, while also indicting 10 China-based operators; alleged recruiter Tey Michael Nolte was named in the indictment but not charged.
- The investigation remains ongoing as authorities track the scheme, which funnels 85% to 90% of worker earnings to North Korea to support the regime's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
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(San Francisco = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kwon Young-jeon = Another "laptop farm," a remote base for North Korean information technology (IT) workers employed under false pretenses at U.S. companies, has been discovered.
CyberScoop
IT Security News - cybersecurity, infosecurity newsDOJ charges 14 over a sprawling North Korean remote work scheme
Federal authorities charged 14 people and raided dozens of Texas laptop farms that helped North Korean operatives funnel $3 million from 70 US employers.
Operation Lone Star Round-Up Disrupts North Korean IT Network
Federal authorities on Tuesday said that the North Korean government used information technology workers to funnel money from North Texas back to North Korea. The U.S. District Attorney of the Northern District of Texas, Ryan Raybould, held a morning press conference to announce that federal agents carried out the North Texas investigative effort known as...
North Korean IT fraud case cites crypto transfers in alleged $3m scheme
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the arrests of two Americans accused of helping North Korean IT workers obtain jobs at more than 70 U.S. companies in a scheme that generated approximately $3 million. The U.S. Department of Justice…
The FBI investigators collaborated with CrowdStrike's cybersecurity firm to dismantle the so-called "laptop farms" that steal American identities to get money for Phenian, writes The New York Times.
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