North Korean stolen-identity IT job campaign against U.S. companies
Campaign
Summary
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A North Korea-linked IT-worker campaign used stolen identities and proxy accounts to fraudulently place remote workers at 40 U.S. companies, creating unauthorized access and funding risk. The operation moved at least 871 proxy identities through freelance hiring platforms and used laptop farms to mask the workers' locations. The scheme spanned the United States, Europe, and Ecuador, showing broad, coordinated abuse of the hiring ecosystem.
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About this happening:
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Timeline
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20.02.2026 11:00 4 articles · 3mo ago
Oleksandr Didenko sentenced for North Korean IT worker identity scheme
Legal Policy Action UpdateOleksandr Didenko was sentenced to 60 months in prison, 12 months of supervised release, and forfeiture of more than $1.4 million after stealing U.S. citizens' identities and supplying them through UpWorkSell and three freelance IT hiring platforms to North Korean remote workers who used them to obtain jobs at 40 U.S. companies and conceal their locations with laptop farms.
Show sources
- Ukrainian gets 5 years for helping North Koreans infiltrate US firms — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.02.2026 11:00
- Ukrainian gets 5 years for helping North Koreans infiltrate US firms — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.02.2026 11:00
- Ukrainian National Sentenced to 5 Years in North Korea IT Worker Fraud Case — thehackernews.com — 20.02.2026 11:52
- US nationals behind DPRK IT worker 'laptop farm' sent to prison — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 16.04.2026 11:32