from Hacker News

How not to hire a North Korean plant posing as a techie

by DougEiffel on 10/19/23, 10:01 AM with 127 comments

  • by throw747488 on 10/19/23, 3:17 PM

    Here is my opinion as someone who worked with alongside North Koreans (textile factory) and visited NK. I am from East Europe and have 10 years in IT.

    - NK secret service (or whatever you call it) is more sophisticated than this. They will act as proper company from Turkey, India, China or even EU countries...

    - if you actually manage to get some North Korean who escaped to West, they are 10x more dedicated than anyone else. China, or South Korea (usual target countries) do not offer many opportunities, they need money for relatives.

    - NK secret services do not attack west infrastructure, or steal info from small fish. They are too small to do that! Most money is from drugs and guns.

    - if you hire US only, you eliminate 99.99% of issues. US borders are not ideal, but they do repeal unwanted Asians.

    Edit: * stitching, working with cloth, it was textile factory in East Europe

  • by Run_DOS_Run on 10/19/23, 4:34 PM

    >Evading in-person meetings or requests for drug tests.

    I am surprised about the request for drug tests. Is this common in the US?

    Except for high-security jobs, which are never possible remotely anyway, I have never heard of a client or employer asking for a drug test. If I got a request for a drug test, I would quit immediately. Even if I am sure it is negative, my private life is my business. Any attempt to control my private life I see as a personal attack.

  • by lolc on 10/19/23, 3:02 PM

    > Threats to release proprietary source codes if additional payments are not made;

    This is "a sign"? In what company is that not grounds for immediate revocation of all access, termination?

  • by dharmab on 10/19/23, 2:01 PM

  • by naruhodo on 10/20/23, 4:07 AM

    > logging in from multiple IP addresses,

    [x] Phone, laptop.

    > working odd hours,

    [x] Delayed sleep phase insomnia.

    > Repeated requests for prepayment followed by “anger or aggression when the request is denied”;

    [x] Previously ripped off by shitty employers.

    > Evading in-person meetings or requests for drug tests;

    [x] Social anxiety, medical cannabis user who is aware that even though legal (in AU) it is stigmatised.

    > Having multiple online profiles for the same identity with different pictures, or online profiles with no picture.

    [x] Average privacy enthusiast.

    I await further instructions from Glorious Leader.

  • by axus on 10/19/23, 3:19 PM

    I'm amazed that the "alt-detection" problem from multiplayer games has become a business problem. I guess the US gov has been doing this for decades for security clearances, is there a commercial equivalent that works internationally?

    And there's still the "man-in-the-middle" problem.

  • by BossingAround on 10/19/23, 1:16 PM

    > Evading in-person meetings or requests for drug tests

    Why would they evade drug tests and meeting in person? Do the "techies" claim they are not Korean at all? Surely, a North Korean would pass as a South Korean to (at least) any non-Korean colleague?

  • by flerchin on 10/19/23, 1:41 PM

    A lot of the advice seems to boil down to "don't hire remote freelancers."

  • by Tabular-Iceberg on 10/19/23, 2:56 PM

    Wouldn’t throwing tantrums and threatening to violate NDAs over petty cash just undermine their entire spying operation?

  • by ClumsyPilot on 10/19/23, 6:11 PM

    This reads like blatant fear mongering

    > infiltrate organizations they work for to steal secrets

    Do you worry about this as a random company? You are gonna steal source code for 4 out of 12 micro services required to run some random online shopping website, or a video game? what is North Korean gov. Going to do with it?

    And if you give random people access to customer data, then it’s already being sold on the dark web.

    > suspicious behavior such as working odd hours and inconsistencies in name spellings

    every autistic or dyslexic or socially disfynctional techy is a spy now?

  • by mrweasel on 10/19/23, 12:45 PM

    The Danish government might want to read this, preferably before having any more North Koreans working on ships for the navy.

  • by fossislife on 10/19/23, 12:57 PM

    > Repeated requests for prepayment; anger or aggression when the request is denied.

    Why would they ask for prepayment?

  • by FooBarBizBazz on 10/19/23, 1:45 PM

    "Don't let the hoodie fool you, that's Pinus densiflora."

  • by stuff4ben on 10/19/23, 1:49 PM

    Wish someone would honeypot them all then reverse infect their computers.