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.
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