Cosmos Hub Among Victims as North Korean IT Workers Infiltrate Cryptocurrency Firms

COINOTAG news, October 2, according to CoinDesk, over a dozen cryptocurrency enterprises have inadvertently employed IT professionals from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), including established blockchain ventures such as Injective, ZeroLend, Fantom, Sushi, Yearn Finance, and Cosmos Hub. These workers utilized counterfeit identities, cleared interview processes, passed background verifications, and provided authentic work histories.

In nations like the United States where North Korean labor is sanctioned, employing North Korean workers is unlawful. Several firms that hired North Korean IT staff experienced subsequent hacking incidents. “Everyone is striving to filter these individuals out,” stated Zaki Manian, a prominent blockchain developer who mistakenly hired two North Korean IT employees in 2021 to aid in the development of the Cosmos Hub blockchain.

U.S. authorities have recently intensified alerts that North Korean IT professionals are penetrating tech companies and channeling the earnings to support nuclear weapons programs. A study indicates that North Korean job seekers are particularly proactive in targeting cryptocurrency companies, successfully securing interviews, passing background checks, and demonstrating a substantial history of code contributions on the open-source platform GitHub.