The FBI is investigating the hiring of a North Korean national by a U.S. federal agency
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating how a North Korean national was able to secure a job at an unnamed federal government agency. This was first reported by the Federal News Network, citing a high-ranking FBI official who spoke at a conference in Washington on July 28; the information was also published by TechCrunch.
The official confirmed to the Federal News Network that the bureau is investigating a North Korean national who worked at a federal agency. It is not clear which specific agency may have been affected. It is also unknown how this individual was hired or whether any data or funds were stolen during the incident.
TechCrunch calls this case a rare confirmed example of a North Korean subject to sanctions working at a U.S. government agency. According to the publication, thousands of IT workers from North Korea may have found employment at American and European organizations in recent years by exploiting vulnerabilities in hiring processes.
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According to TechCrunch, the goal of such schemes is to secure remote positions under false pretenses and receive salaries that ultimately go to the North Korean regime. Such employees may also steal intellectual property and other data, and once exposed, use the information they’ve obtained to blackmail companies.
Strict vetting and clearance procedures for classified information have largely prevented North Korean hackers from infiltrating U.S. government agencies, though similar incidents have been documented. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice charged a Maryland resident who, according to investigators, helped a North Korean hacker pose as an American and secure a remote contract position with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
U.S. authorities have imposed sanctions and taken law enforcement action against networks operating out of Pyongyang, as well as from Russia and China. According to TechCrunch, law enforcement officials have also targeted American intermediaries who arranged for the use of laptops so that North Korean workers could appear to be working from the United States.
