> What tipped us off > 5. Background noise during their interview that indicated other people speaking in an interview-like setting The rest maybe false flags, but this really seals the deal. (or... maybe it's just a recent day in Starbucks. But I don't take the risk) Also, how dare those people apply jobs for an US based cybersecurity firm? Don't they know what cybersecurity firms do? Go apply a Web3 companies, they…
It must be like a lottery for North Korean devs. Get a job somewhere, you earn dollars for the regime. Get a job with a US cybersecurity firm and pull off a Jia Tan? Now that would be worth a medal from Kim Jong Un himself.
Anyone else noticing the volume on North Korean reporting and headlines creeping up lately? I do not, in the current political climate, consider any of this a good sign.
> We also noticed vague cover letter language: Sadly, the examples in the article are as good as, or better, than letters I've received from US-based devs.
We received a cover letter recently that had something like "[insert company name here]" left in it.
i see that kind of thing in job ads all the time too.
"Cinder is part of a growing list of US-based tech companies that encounter engineering applicants who are actually suspected North Korean nationals. " Actually suspected? There's nothing in the article that shows they were from North Korea.
You missed the key word....
> Actually suspected
I actually suspected my grand kid ate my icecream.
The icecream was in the fridge, grandkids use the fridge. The icecream was not in the fridge, grandkids take things out of the fridge. The icecream was likely eaten. Grandkids eat icecream. I actually suspect the grandkids ate the icecream. (Turns out grandma ate it with her friends on top of some apple pie.)
I had similar experiences at my last employer when hiring last fall. In both cases, the fraud was easily made plain when I asked details about their work history. In one case, they claimed to live in the same metro area I had previously lived for 18 years, but couldn’t answer any basic questions about the place. In another situation, they claimed a workplace that was in a community I was familiar with and that was fa…
> names that didn’t match their ethnicity The people I've known from China and Korea have a tendency to adopt traditional English names (Steve, Joe, Mike, etc) because their native names are hard to pronounce for English speakers. Further, the 2nd generation Asian Americans I've met do often have traditional English names.
Certainly someone of obvious Asian descent and accent who introduces themselves as “Simon” is not a red flag. As you say, some people understandably prefer not to hear their real name mangled every day.
But someone of obvious Asian descent and accent who introduces themselves as “Simon Cartwright” and has vague tales of growing up in London… again, it’s possible, and we should treat each individual with respect and assumption of good intent, but that might make me dig a little deeper.
North Korean engineers aren't nearly as scary as a "Trust and Safety" company founded by ex-CIA operatives.
They make it sound like it’s a lucky coincidence that “these guys just so happened to apply to a company run by ex-CIA North Korea experts!” I’d guess that there’s a chance that they specifically targeted this company
> I’d guess that there’s a chance that they specifically targeted this company
There's even a chance this never actually happened as presented.
I had similar experiences at my last employer when hiring last fall. In both cases, the fraud was easily made plain when I asked details about their work history. In one case, they claimed to live in the same metro area I had previously lived for 18 years, but couldn’t answer any basic questions about the place. In another situation, they claimed a workplace that was in a community I was familiar with and that was fa…
> names that didn’t match their ethnicity The people I've known from China and Korea have a tendency to adopt traditional English names (Steve, Joe, Mike, etc) because their native names are hard to pronounce for English speakers. Further, the 2nd generation Asian Americans I've met do often have traditional English names.
Yeah, it's hard to know exactly what they meant by that comment, but it seems pretty presumptuous to judge whether someone's name "matches" their ethnicity for so many reasons, not the least of which is that there really isn't any way you should know for certain someone's ethnicity when they're applying at all! Asking about it in an interview is certainly illegal, and even in countries that are mostly homogeneous, there are going to be at least _some_ immigrants (maybe not for North Korea, but the entire premise of the article is that the applicants aren't claiming to be from North Korea in the first place)