PANews reported on July 1 that the U.S. Department of Justice has charged four North Korean hackers who posed as remote developers and infiltrated a blockchain startup located in Atlanta, stealing approximately $900,000 in cryptocurrency. These hackers gained trust through forged identity documents and executed two thefts in 2022, stealing $175,000 and $740,000 respectively, and then laundered the money using mixers and false identities.
According to analysis, these actions are part of North Korea's long-term strategy to fund its weapons program. Hackers exploit vulnerabilities in remote work culture to infiltrate companies, using forged identity documents to evade background checks while stealing company funds. The U.S. Department of Justice has also launched joint operations in 16 states, seizing 29 financial accounts, 21 fake websites, and about 200 computers used to support North Korea's IT program.