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Kraken Thwarts North Korean Hacker Posing as Job Applicant
By Mark Hunter 48 seconds ago Sat May 03 2025 06:12:03 Reading Time: 2 minutes
In a recent incident, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has successfully thwarted an attempt by a North Korean hacker to infiltrate the company under the guise of a job applicant. The hacker used sophisticated tactics and fake identities in an effort to join the team.
The suspicious candidate began their application process with a false name on their resume, only to be revealed as using a different identity during an interview. It appears that real-time coaching or assistance was provided to the individual during the call, resulting in unusual changes of voice tone. This peculiar behavior raised flags among Kraken’s internal teams.
Further investigation led to a connection between the applicant’s email address and previous associations with North Korean hacking operations. The company then used open-source intelligence to identify a web of linked identities connected to the candidate. One of these aliases had already been sanctioned as a foreign agent, casting further doubt on the authenticity of the application.
Kraken’s Red Team collaborated with their recruitment team to gather more data and expose the attempted infiltration. During the final interview with Kraken Chief Security Officer Nick Percoco, the candidate was asked to perform subtle verification tasks. This included presenting live government ID, verifying local details about a city they claimed to reside in, and answering contextual location-based questions.
Percoco emphasized the importance of caution when dealing with job applicants: “Don’t trust, verify.” He added that state-sponsored attacks are no longer limited to crypto or U.S. corporate issues, but rather pose a global threat to any individual or business handling value.
Source: https://fullycrypto.com/kraken-thwarts-north-korean-hacker-posing-as-job-applicant?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kraken-thwarts-north-korean-hacker-posing-as-job-applicant
