North Korea has strongly condemned the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after the agency exposed a major information technology infiltration operation.
The DOJ revealed that North Korean operatives ran schemes to fund the regime by remotely accessing IT jobs within U.S. companies.
North Korean officials called the DOJ’s accusations “an absurd smear campaign” targeting the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Earlier this week, the DOJ announced it had uncovered a network involving North Korean hackers supported by individuals in the U.S., China, the United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan.
These operatives secured employment with more than 100 U.S. companies, including several Fortune 500 firms. The workers received company laptops, which they allowed North Korean IT personnel to access remotely.
One scheme involved North Korean hackers using false identities to gain jobs at a blockchain research and development company in Atlanta, Georgia.
Through this access, they stole over $900,000 in virtual currency, according to the DOJ.
As part of the investigation, the DOJ unsealed a five-count indictment against Zhenxing Wang, a U.S. citizen residing in New Jersey, who has been arrested, Fox News reported.
Wang and his collaborators allegedly secured remote IT jobs and generated over $5 million in illicit revenue.