North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

IBM X-Force and Flare Research have mapped North Korea's fake IT worker operation, revealing that approximately 100,000 workers across 40 countries generate $500 million annually for the regime by infiltrating Western companies as remote contractors or full-time staff. The ecosystem includes recruiters, facilitators, IT workers, and Western collaborators, with workers using fake identities to bid on freelancing platforms like Upwork and secure legitimate tech roles.