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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

#41

Post by ck2 »

epolanski wrote: post #28
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

> hundreds stave to death there daily Yeah, you will need a solid source for that. This isn't the 1990s, while malnutrition may happen, and there have been occasional shortages (covid was one example), it's unlikely people are starving to death in 2026, let alone multiple, let alone per day. On top of that: North Korea is not that isolated as people think. North Koreans have smartphones and plenty of those living nea…

what a weird argument just to argue

you really have to ignore international news for years to argue starvation in North Korea isn't real

keep BBC News on in the background each morning and you'll learn stuff never mentioned anywhere on US news

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65881803

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/12/north-koreas-leader-warn...

it's been going on for decades and yes even though 2026

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

#42

Post by ForHackernews »

catigula wrote: post #32
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?

The implication is that they're pretending to be legitimate employees whereas they are actually exfiltrating IP from a hostile nation state. Seems valid.

You mean like the DOGE team?

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

#43

Post by FpUser »

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?

Who cares what they're called. Main concern in this case is that the result of their work poses danger to the US. Like a spies. They often do legit work and meanwhile some "extra"

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

#44

Post by calvinmorrison »

sam-cop-vimes wrote: post #19
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"?

most of my earnings go to my employer too... we bill clients at X and I get a small portion of it

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

#45

Post by FpUser »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #31
gpm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Chi…

We didn't win because China intervened in massive numbers to keep the regime in the North from losing the whole country.

The US did not win because the US did not win. Crying about the reasons does not help. Usual FAFO. Does not hurt to think of consequences before starting something

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

#48

Post by daemonologist »

staplung wrote: post #15

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.

I had the same thought - I guess there's additional overhead in paying the in-country proxy and probably also a lot of churn (being found out and fired, and then taking a long time to find another position).

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

#49

Post by energy123 »

gpm wrote: post #14
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 Chi…

South Korea wouldn't exist as a prosperous Western-aligned liberal democracy without the war, so it was hardly a complete loss.

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

#50

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

ambicapter wrote: post #27
gradyfps wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Weird take on legality. They're working American jobs, breaking American law. Yes it matters.

If we could prosecute and incarcerate them, how likely is it that a US prison is still an improvement over living in North Korea?
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