CrowdStrike boss George Kurtz warns that North Korean spies are now using AI to quietly infiltrate US companies through remote hiring, allowing foreign operatives to gain legitimate access to corporate systems.
In a new episode of the All-In Podcast at Davos, Kurtz warns that North Korean operatives are shifting from traditional cyber intrusion to identity-based compromise, where attackers pose as qualified job candidates and pass hiring screens to secure developer roles inside American firms.
He notes that the activity is no longer isolated and has scaled into the hundreds, with companies unknowingly employing individuals who are not who they claim to be. According to Kurtz, breaking the news to a company that it is employing a North Korean spy is not easy.
“We found hundreds now… When you have a piece of malware, it’s like, ‘Okay, that’s bad.’ You can detect it. But when you have to tell a company that their employee may not be their employee, you have to be gentle.”
Kurtz says the threat differs from conventional malware tactics, noting that fake employees often perform well to avoid detection.
“They were doing it to buy access. Why break in when you can just log in? So it’s a lot easier to get somebody hired.
True story. We actually say, ‘We think this employee is not an employee.’ They investigate it, and they go, ‘Yeah, you were right.’
I said, ‘Well, tell me the story.’ And they said, ‘Well, we went to this person’s boss, and we said, we don’t think that’s a real person. And they went through all the reasons why. Finally, they said, we think it’s a North Korean. His boss said, well, do we have to get rid of him? Because he did such good work.’”
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