00:00The U.S. announced a partnership with Japan and South Korea to counter what they say is the threat of North Korean IT workers.
00:09The joint statement says North Korea continues to send IT workers around the world, both in person and remotely.
00:17They say North Korea's goal is to generate revenue for missile programs and steal data and intellectual property.
00:23North Korea has previously used cyber attacks, but getting their people on the inside of companies is an even bigger risk.
00:30The highest level of threat is an insider. And so this really took it to another level.
00:34And I think that's why you're seeing these organizations with the government in Japan and Korea, South Korea, putting out these advisories and alerts to notify these private sector organizations of this.
00:49Hyslip said this tactic became more of an issue following the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of remote work that allowed the workers to use fake names and locations to get inside companies.
01:02Having full access allows them to either steal whatever they want themselves or establish back doors and allow their counterparts who are remote, you know, say in North Korea to access it.
01:11To counter this, the U.S. has designated and sanctioned several entities and people who they say help these IT worker schemes.
01:19Japan and South Korea have also taken steps to mitigate the risks, and it's not uncommon for allies to work together.
01:25But when an incident like this happens, they'll really get together, probably form a working group and determine, OK, how are we going to mitigate this problem that we've identified and hopefully, you know, mitigate the resulting fallout if data was compromised.
01:40The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency highlights North Korea, China, Russia and Iran as the biggest cyber threats to the U.S.
01:50And like American allies, enemies will sometimes work together as well.
01:54China's really been the biggest actor, and so it doesn't surprise me that, you know, North Korea and China are kind of allies when it's convenient.
02:02You know, they may have shared their tactics, techniques, procedures that they're using with North Korea, and then North Korea took advantage of that opportunity.
02:09For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Keenan.
02:12For more unbiased straight facts, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit san.com.
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