The post Kraken Exposes North Korean Hacker Posing as a Job Candidate appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Kraken, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, has uncovered a sophisticated infiltration attempt by a North Korean hacker posing as a job candidate.  The security and recruitment teams advanced the candidate through the hiring process. The aim was to study their strategies and gather crucial insights.  How a North Korean Hacker Tried to Infiltrate Kraken Kraken detailed the incident in a recent blog post on May 1. The hacker applied for an engineering role at the exchange, initially appearing as a legitimate candidate, allegedly named Steven Smith. However, several red flags emerged during the hiring process.  “What started as a routine hiring process for an engineering role quickly turned into an intelligence gathering operation, as our teams carefully advanced the candidate through our hiring process to learn more about their tactics at every stage of the process,” Kraken noted. The candidate used a different name during the interview and kept switching voices, suggesting coaching. They applied using an email linked to North Korean hackers.  Moreover, the Open-Source Intelligence gathering (OSINT) investigation uncovered the candidate’s involvement in a network of fake identities. “This meant that our team had uncovered a hacking operation where one individual had established multiple identities to apply for roles in the crypto space and beyond. Several of the names had previously been hired by multiple companies, as our team identified work-related email addresses linked to them. One identity in this network was also a known foreign agent on the sanctions list,” the blog read. Additionally, technical inconsistencies in their setup, like using remote, colocated Mac desktops accessed via a VPN and altered IDs, pointed to an infiltration attempt. This information confirmed that the candidate was likely a state-sponsored hacker. In a final interview with the candidate, Kraken’s Chief Security Officer, Nick Percoco, and some team members confirmed the company’s…

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Filed under: News - @ May 2, 2025 1:28 pm