Two Taiwanese were among a group of suspects indicted in Boston on Monday in connection with an alleged scheme to generate revenue for North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs, US prosecutors said.
The two Taiwanese suspects, identified as Liu Meng-ting and Liu En-chia, were among nine suspects indicted in the scheme that raised at least US$5 million in revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), US Attorney Leah Foley’s office said.
Aside from the two Taiwanese, six Chinese and one American were indicted in the case.
Photo: Reuters
The statement from Foley’s office did not detail whether the suspects were being detained.
The DPRK government has dispatched thousands of skilled information technology (IT) workers around the world in response to US and UN sanctions to steal the identities of US nationals and pose as American workers to obtain remote IT jobs and generate revenue for DPRK weapons of mass destruction programs, court documents said.
Between 2021 and October last year, those indicted in connection with the scheme allegedly transmitted fake and misleading information to dozens of US companies, financial institutions and government agencies.
The IT workers employed also gained access to sensitive employer data and source codes including International Traffic in Arms Regulations data from a California-based defense contractor that develops artificial intelligence-powered equipment and technologies.
In doing so, the suspects and their co-conspirators compromised the identities of more than 80 US citizens, and fraudulently obtained remote jobs at more than 100 US companies, including several Fortune 500 companies and a defense contractor, Foley’s office said.
They also accessed internal information from the companies and generated US$5 million in revenue, it said.
“The threat posed by DPRK operatives is both real and immediate. Thousands of North Korean cyberoperatives have been trained and deployed by the regime to blend into the global digital workforce and systematically target US companies,” Foley was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We will continue to work relentlessly to protect US businesses and ensure they are not inadvertently fueling the DPRK’s unlawful and dangerous ambitions,” Foley was quoted as saying.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS