Within five months, eight "laptop farm owners" in the United States have been sentenced, assisting North Korean IT personnel in infiltrating nearly 70 companies

BlockBeats News message: On May 8, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that in the past five months, eight people have been sentenced for acting as local “agents” in the United States for North Korean IT workers. Only in May, Matthew Issac Knoot in Tennessee and Erick Ntekereze Prince in New York were each sentenced to 18 months in prison. Together, the two generated $1.2 million in revenue for North Korea, affecting nearly 70 U.S. companies.

These individuals, known as “laptop farm owners,” receive work computers mailed by U.S. companies on behalf of North Korean workers, install remote desktop software, and enable North Korean IT personnel to disguise themselves as local U.S. employees working remotely. The scheme generates revenue for the North Korean government, especially targeting technical roles at crypto companies, with the purpose of stealing assets or infiltrating infrastructure.

Last month, in New Jersey, Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang were each sentenced to 9 years and 7 years and 8 months, respectively, for operating larger-scale laptop farms, with the case generating more than $5 million in revenue for North Korea. The report shows that over the past year, the number of companies that employed North Korean workers increased by 220%; more than 320 U.S. companies were infiltrated; and North Korean workers are making extensive use of artificial intelligence to optimize job searching and work processes.