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Trump Admin Sanctions North Korean IT Network Exploiting US Firms

Updated 12:18 AM ET · 11:36 PM ETConfirmed

Technology Desk

In Short: The Trump administration sanctioned a North Korean network accused of infiltrating US companies with IT workers.

The Trump administration announced new sanctions Wednesday targeting a North Korean government-run scheme that uses fraudulent identities to place IT workers inside legitimate U.S. companies, according to Fox Business and TechCrunch.

Fox Business reported that the sanctions target 10 individuals and one entity accused of helping operate or finance the schemes on behalf of the North Korean government, while TechCrunch noted that five people have pleaded guilty to helping North Koreans defraud U.S. companies by posing as remote IT workers.

According to Fox Business, the sanctioned individuals include Russian intermediary Vitold Viktorovich Obertas, who allegedly handled nearly $2 million in cryptocurrency conversions and at least $1.25 million in other currency transactions for North Korean officials since January 2025.

The American Bazaar reported that the U.S. Treasury said the fraud network generated at least $1 million in profits for the North Korean regime, one of many such schemes that have helped raise billions of dollars in stolen funds, including cryptocurrency, to fund its internationally sanctioned nuclear weapons program.

Justthenews noted that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Wednesday that it is imposing new sanctions on 10 North Korean individuals for their roles in information technology worker schemes that defraud U.S. businesses.

Fox Business and TechCrunch both reported that the sanctioned individuals and entities used cryptocurrency, sophisticated money-laundering techniques, and artificial intelligence tools to generate and transfer funds for the North Korean government.

The Treasury Department said the First Financial and Technical Development Center, a North Korean-controlled entity located in Russia, deployed highly trained North Korean IT workers who allegedly employed 'Super Intelligence (SI) tools' and sophisticated money-laundering methods, including complex cryptocurrency transfers, according to Fox Business.

TechCrunch reported that the five people who pleaded guilty are accused of working as 'facilitators' who helped North Koreans get jobs by providing their own real identities, or false and stolen identities of more than a dozen U.S. citizens.

The sanctions come as part of a broader effort by the U.S. to disrupt North Korean efforts to fund its nuclear weapons program through cybercrime and other illicit activities, according to TechCrunch.

The Treasury Department said North Korean IT workers deployed malware, stole sensitive data and proprietary information, and extorted companies, posing risks to businesses worldwide, according to Fox Business.

The sanctions are part of a larger strategy to disrupt North Korea's ability to fund its nuclear weapons program through cybercrime and other illicit activities, according to Fox Business.

The U.S. Department of Justice also announced that it had frozen and seized more than $15 million in cryptocurrency stolen in 2023 by North Korean hackers from several crypto platforms, according to TechCrunch.

Background

What's confirmed

• "The North Korean regime continues targeting and exploiting American companies through fraudulent activities conducted by its overseas IT operatives, who weaponize sensitive data and extort businesses for substantial payments," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

What's still developing

• The U.S. claims Andreyev worked with a North Korean consular official based in Russia called Kim Ung Sun to launder close to $600,000 in stolen money into cryptocurrency for the regime.
• Florida student arrested for high school shooting threat FBI disrupts Texas network helping North Koreans get U.S.
• The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it had not confirmed whether South Korean fuel, including diesel, had been exported to Russia.
• On Wednesday, the South Korean presidential office dismissed a statement by Vladyslav Vlasiuk, an adviser to the Ukrainian president on sanctions policy, that 176,000 tonnes of fuel were shipped from South Korea to Russia via sanctioned tankers in July and August.
• According to Ukrainian and South Korean estimates, about 14,000 to 15,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine.
• Relations between South Korea and Ukraine have been strained for the past couple of weeks after Seoul accused Zelenskyy of having “unilaterally disclosed” to the United Nations General Assembly that Kyiv had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
• “Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our government has consistently implemented sanctions and export controls against Russia in close cooperation with the international community,” South Korean presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said on Wednesday, according to the Yonhap news agency.
• Russia is increasingly using North Korean laborers to manufacture military drones in violation of international sanctions against North Korea, according to a report published by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team on Sept. 16.
• This includes "utilizing student and tourist visas instead of work permits, adjusting Russian law to allow those on student visas to earn income," and "bribing Russian universities." An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 North Korean workers were employed illegally in Russia in 2025, according to the report.
• An investigation by The Guardian, based on port records and ship-tracking data, found that more than 176,000 tonnes (metric tons) of fuel, mostly diesel, were loaded at South Korean ports in July and August onto seven tankers that made 14 voyages to Russia’s Far East.
• The increase began in July, around the time South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged $100 million for Ukraine ’s reconstruction at a NATO summit in Turkey.
• The Guardian also said South Korea accounted for 112,000 tonnes, or about 31% of Russia’s overall imports, second only to India; Wickenden noted that South Korean imports made up the majority of the difference identified in the Sept. 24 Kpler extract.

Sources

• Fox Businesslink
• Justthenewslink
• The American Bazaarlink
• Bnonewslink
• Al Jazeeralink
• Kyivindependentlink
• Kyivpostlink
• Newslink
• Gcaptainlink
• TechCrunchlink
• WarpBeat — background on Trump Admin Sanctions North Korean IT Network Exploiting US Firms link
• WarpBeat — background on The Trump Administration Gets an Early Start on Interfering in the Midterms link