Yet Another Reason Employers Need to Be Alert to Security Threats to the US

An American woman In Arizona and additional co-conspirators ran a 3-year scheme that defrauded more than 300 US companies plus three federal agencies to the tune of $6.8 million that benefited “foreign individuals and entities including North Korea.” To accomplish this, they stole identities of over 60 US citizens, who were employees of Fortune 500 companies. A separate warrant was issued for a Ukrainian national who was involved. The operation was discovered when the DOJ seized website domains used by North Korea to fund their weapons development schemes. Victimized companies were not named, but the story says some big names were penetrated, from technology to clothing manufacture. They also tried to gain employment and data access to two US Agencies. The employers also experienced data breaches in which job applicants’ information was compromised. Experts cautioned employers that HR and employment data is highly sought after by cyber criminals. Keep your guard up!