The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on two individuals and four entities linked to a North Korean IT worker scheme aimed at infiltrating cryptocurrency firms. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that Song Kum Hyok, based in North Korea, allegedly stole personal information from US citizens to create false identities for foreign IT workers seeking jobs in the US. Additionally, Russian national Gayk Asatryan was sanctioned for employing North Korean IT workers through agreements with North Korean trading companies. Reports indicate that North Korea is expanding its fraudulent tech workforce globally, primarily targeting wealthier nations. The sanctions freeze all US assets associated with the sanctioned individuals and prohibit any financial transactions with them, under civil and criminal penalties. North Korea has a history of high-profile cyberattacks, including significant cryptocurrency hacks. Recent trends show a shift towards deception-based revenue generation, with North Korean operatives increasingly infiltrating the tech sector. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news