Consensys inadvertently hired North Korean developers to handle software development work, and has launched a comprehensive investigation

BlockBeats message, July 18: Blockchain company Consensys, without knowing it, previously allowed a software developer associated with North Korea to access some of the company’s internal systems for about a month.

Earlier this year, Consensys hired a software development consultant who used the alias Tyler Knapp. It later found that the person had ties to North Korea. The incident led Consensys to temporarily suspend product releases and launch an internal investigation.

Consensys’ General Counsel Matt Corva said: “ ‘Knapp’ was introduced to us through our partnership with a reputable third-party service provider, and he worked with Consensys in the capacity of a consultant. He was never a formal employee of Consensys. We discovered this security threat shortly after he joined, immediately terminated all of his access privileges in accordance with our security procedures, and launched a comprehensive investigation. The investigation results confirmed that no assets or data were misappropriated and no malicious code was deployed, and that there was no impact on users’ security or assets.”