I assume that the request was related to something like this: Preventing fraudulent remote workers.
And, maybe I'm reading too far into it, but this line:
>With these roles, these individuals allegedly abused their access at the companies to steal virtual currency.
makes it sound like they were stealing Robux or something. Could money be laundered through re-selling video game currencies?
Employing a North Korean can create sanctions and criminal risk, so it's not worth it.
From what I've heard from people who have accidentally hired them though, many are great engineers.
Edit: They also recruit US Citizens through "Work from home" schemes to help them engage in the fraud.
They coast for a while on passable work but it isn't sustained through multiple warnings. The day after we hit him with a PIP he performed a mass exfiltration.
Two weeks after we let him go, systems he had previously had access to were compromised from outside.
With remote workers, if they start underperforming, start revoking whatever access you can at the first warning. Most of the events were set in motion once he saw the writing on the wall. This one was a textbook case with such predictable timing it's absurd that he got as far as he did.
He also raised every red flag in the book during the hiring process (interviewers noted suspicions of AI use) and presented as too good to be true with perfect skills alignment and low salary requirements. At every point in the process we knew better.
Nope. UAE or Laos:
"The men speak English and Korean and have ties to the United Arab Emirates and Laos"