North Korea is looking for IT professionals, not to offer them a job. Hackers specifically target job seekers’ profiles to spread malware through fake job interviews.

North Korean hackers are targeting software developers looking for work. This is what security specialist Palo Alto found out. The hackers pose as potential employers and approach their targets through advertisements on job platforms. There they pose as employees of interesting AI companies, or more generally as recruiters from an agency. The advertisements in question are rather vague.

Applying for a job with malware

After the first contact, the attackers initiate an online interview as quickly as possible. In this interview, victims are convinced to download malicious code via GitHub. The criminals hope that they can convince the aspiring developers to run the code as part of the interview. The malware then opens a backdoor on the victim’s system.

Palo Alto suspects that the attackers are abusing the access they have gained to mine crypto coins. In any case, the targets get a lot of misery instead of a job.

North Korean hackers also work the other way around, Palo Alto notes. Especially in the USA, criminals use fake profiles and CVs to try to get a job at American companies, with the main aim of espionage.