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North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

theregister.com

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Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#11

Post by systems »

1970-01-01 wrote: post #9
abtinf wrote: post #7

I’m a little unclear on the usage of the word “fake” here. Going by article, these are real people doing actual real work, they often use stolen identities to conceal information about themselves, and they get help from outside sources to do their jobs better. Whatever the right word is, it’s not “fake”. Maybe fraudulent? Or ulterior motives? Or deceptive? Or pretext? Or threat actor? Or foreign agents?

I don't think we have a word for this. At best, it is disingenuous work.

we have many words for this Con, Fraud, Secret, Poseur, Imposter .. and after googling for more terms "Pseudonymist" seem a better fit

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#12

Post by spwa4 »

woah wrote: post #4

How are these IT workers fake? Sounds like they are really doing the job.

Well, it is (highly) illegal for them to do this. So they presumably lie about everything, like name, location, ...

Perhaps fake is not the correct word, but the actual individuals are likely to have more than a few faked details. They do exist, of course.

It's also very dubious becuase, well, would you really hire a worker from an organization that also does things like hack hospitals and then hold systems hostage for bitcoin?

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#13

Post by dayofthedaleks »

abtinf wrote: post #7

I’m a little unclear on the usage of the word “fake” here. Going by article, these are real people doing actual real work, they often use stolen identities to conceal information about themselves, and they get help from outside sources to do their jobs better. Whatever the right word is, it’s not “fake”. Maybe fraudulent? Or ulterior motives? Or deceptive? Or pretext? Or threat actor? Or foreign agents?

Advanced Persistent Coworker

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#14

Post by gpm »

ck2 wrote: post #6

Actual atomic weapons not just stockpile, hundreds stave to death there daily, and everyone knows the famous satellite view of the entire country in darkness at night (while his palace is lit) Yet no oil so they will be one of the longest surviving tyrannies in history We can bet every country like them now will be building massive war drone factories too

It's not the lack of oil that enabled this. The west* fought a bloody war to defeat North Korea. We just didn't win (though we did prevent the north from taking the south...). Now you've got a dictatorship protected by their ability to deal devastating damage to South Korea via nukes, huge stockpiles of conventional artillery (and Seoul is within range), etc. Moreover one backed by a superpower (China, and before China the soviet union... indeed these countries are the reason the west didn't win the first war as well).

They could have all the oil in the world and we'd be no more in a position to do anything about it.

*US, Uk, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, France, New Zealand, Phillipines, Tukey, Thailand, South Africa, Greece, Belgum, Luxembourg, Ethopia, Columbia, and South Korea.

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#15

Post by staplung »

The numbers in the headline seem odd. They imply that each (fake|fraudulent) worker only nets $5000 per year for Kim. I know the system has some inefficiencies where people behind the scenes are helping the "employee" with the work and there are cost of living expenses, taxes etc. but that seems like a pretty low take.

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#17

Post by gradyfps »

spwa4 wrote: post #12
woah wrote: post #4

How are these IT workers fake? Sounds like they are really doing the job.

Well, it is (highly) illegal for them to do this. So they presumably lie about everything, like name, location, ... Perhaps fake is not the correct word, but the actual individuals are likely to have more than a few faked details. They do exist, of course. It's also very dubious becuase, well, would you really hire a worker from an organization that also does things like hack hospitals and then hold systems hostage f…

To be fair, "illegal" here doesn't matter. North Korea doesn't follow American law.

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#18

Post by benttoothpaste »

woah wrote: post #4

How are these IT workers fake? Sounds like they are really doing the job.

I would say they are "fake" because they work using stolen identities and hide their location. In order to receive these high wages they need to pretend to be located in US and they need to provide the paperwork showing they have a right to work there.

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#19

Post by sam-cop-vimes »

abtinf wrote: post #7

I’m a little unclear on the usage of the word “fake” here. Going by article, these are real people doing actual real work, they often use stolen identities to conceal information about themselves, and they get help from outside sources to do their jobs better. Whatever the right word is, it’s not “fake”. Maybe fraudulent? Or ulterior motives? Or deceptive? Or pretext? Or threat actor? Or foreign agents?

I agree - this is closer to bonded labor though the paying employer doesn't know it. Instead most of their earnings go to their actual employer (which is the North Korean state). "slave" maybe is more appropriate? "prisoner"?

Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

#20

Post by zdw »

ck2 wrote: post #6

Actual atomic weapons not just stockpile, hundreds stave to death there daily, and everyone knows the famous satellite view of the entire country in darkness at night (while his palace is lit) Yet no oil so they will be one of the longest surviving tyrannies in history We can bet every country like them now will be building massive war drone factories too

Seeing what China next door has done with solar and batteries, I wonder if they'll do an electric end-run around oil, similarly to some places in Africa.
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