Execs in Japan busted for winning dev bids then outsourcing to North Koreans
- Reference: 1711607415
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/03/28/japan_nk_arrests/
- Source link:
At least one of the individuals – a 53 year old named Pak Hyon-il – is a South Korean national. His alleged accomplice, 42-year old Toshiron Minomo, is Japanese and once worked for Hyon-il, according to [1]local media .
Pak served as president of Fuchu-based IT firm ITZ, while Minomo was the head of Fukuyama-based Robast.
[2]
Robast reportedly obtained application development work from Japanese customers through a business brokering website, then outsourced it to North Koreans – who the executives may have believed were living in China. The action is believed to have been carried out without the knowledge or consent of the customers.
[3]North Korea running malware-laden gambling websites as-a-service
[4]Japan orders local giants LINE and NAVER to disentangle their tech stacks
[5]Korean peninsula space race sees South and North launch tit for tat spy sats
[6]Think tank warns North Korea uses AI for battle planning, maybe using cloudy resources
The police suspect Pak may have ties to a person in charge of the Hermit Kingdom's foreign currency acquisition activities, and are investigating whether the money may have gone to North Korea, according to [7]reports .
The authorities [8]reportedly found suspicious remittances to North Korean IT engineers from Robast while investigating a case involving development of a smartphone app, that violated Japan's banking act.
[9]
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Warrants from the Kanagawa and Hiroshima Prefectural Police reportedly accuse the duo of filing and using false electronic notarized records to inflate Robast's registered capital to 3 million yen (nearly $20,000). It is unknown at this time how much capital existed in reality. Pak and Minomo have also been [11]accused of unemployment benefit fraud.
While hiring a North Korean to do some dev work may seem cheap and efficient, it comes with many potential side effects – including [12]malware and other cyber security risks.
[13]
Its also very likely that by hiring a North Korean, an entity is contributing foreign currency and slush funds for a despot's activities – both legal and illegal – while violating sanctions domestically.
Last October, the US and South Korean authorities [14]released updated guidance on how to avoid hiring North Korean agents. Handy scenarios to watch out for include threats to release proprietary source code if additional payments are not made, using a freight forwarder's address for company equipment, or unavailability to attend drug tests or in-person meetings.
On Tuesday, the Japanese government isused its [15]own warning regarding North Korean IT contractors posing as Japanese nationals. The notice advised that North Korean workers – abroad or remote – were being used to finance North Korea's nuclear and missile development, and may be involved in their home nation's malicious cyber activities.
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Warning signs include unnatural or non-proficient use of the Japanese language, dodgy use of IP addresses, and names used not matching names for payment. ®
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[1] https://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2024032700860
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZgVNx7yWguCtjc9eu9XthwAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/15/north_korea_turns_to_designing/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/06/japan_line_naver_infosec_guidance/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/05/south_north_korea_spy_satellites/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/24/ai_north_korea_cloud_warning/
[7] https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASS3W6KKKS3WOXIE015.html
[8] https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASS3W6KKKS3WOXIE015.html
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZgVNx7yWguCtjc9eu9XthwAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZgVNx7yWguCtjc9eu9XthwAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240327/p2a/00m/0na/008000c
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/15/north_korea_turns_to_designing/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZgVNx7yWguCtjc9eu9XthwAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/19/north_korea_fake_freelance_avoidance/
[15] https://www.npa.go.jp/news/release/2024/20240325002.html
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZgVNx7yWguCtjc9eu9XthwAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Just one question
I thought NK was practically completely isolated from the rest of the world.
Yes, I know Bhina has "graciously" provided the worst leader of the world with Internet connectivity, and closes a blind eye to all the crime that NK is perpetrating thanks to that.
But how does anyone transfer money to a NK bank account ? Is this another case of funny money shenanigans ?
In any case, somebody should cut that line. Nothing good is coming of it.
Re: Just one question
I'm only speculating but...
Money transferred to a Chinese bank account (contractors are in China, so that's natural enough)... Then either transfer this money to a bank which happily does transfer money to Fat Boy Kim's personal bank account. Or if that's considered too obvious, then money extracted from Chinese Bank Account, gold or equivalent valuable goods purchased, given to a suitable North Korean Mule, and walked across the border to be delivered to the North Korean Treasury.
If China decided to crackdown, it would make this significantly harder, but they overtly support North Korea as a counter to the US/South Korean influence. They have lost significant influence though, as with Kim and Vlad having a little love in, if China shut the Pipes, Russia would simply try to reopen them... Whether that would be enough though, who knows?
Re: Just one question
They don't need to transfer money to NK, as they need these money outside NK to pay bribes and for restricted electronics, arms etc.
> unavailability to attend drug tests or in-person meetings
Oh no, I'm a North Korean dev.
/s
If you're living in a country next door to another country which is run by a nuclear armed despot with a known penchant for throwing tantrums (and who may or may not be a few sandwiches short of a picnic), you would think that going out of your way to send money to him, might not be the best idea in the long run.
But then I guess that's the problem with idiots like this, no-one thinks the madman is going to start lobbying Nukes tomorrow, so why not get rich today? Muppets...