Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
A Maryland man was sentenced to prison this week for helping IT workers linked to North Korea hack into American companies.
This incident fits into a broader pattern in 2025, in which insider access and increasing cryptocurrency theft become major features of North Korea’s cyber strategy.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Opening American jobs to North Koreans
The Department of Justice announced Thursday the sentencing of Minh Vuong Ngoc Vuong, a US citizen who was convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud. Prosecutors have shown that Fong used fake credentials to secure remote software development jobs for North Korean workers. 13 American companies.
According to public documents, Fong allowed a foreign operator to use his loginstheir devices, and their identity documents to do remote work. The man, who was working from China, is believed to be from North Korea.
One business created a particular risk when a Virginia technology company hired Fung to work on an FAA contract in 2023.
The role required US citizenship and provided a government-issued ID card. Fung installed remote access tools on the company’s laptop. The move allowed North Korea to discreetly complete the work from the outside.
The company paid Fung more than $28,000, and sent some of those profits to his overseas partners. Court documents show he raised more than $970,000 across the companies, most of which was conducted by agents linked to North Korea. Several companies have also subcontracted it to US government agencies, expanding exposure.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Fung was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
This comes as North Korea escalates for its global cyber operations.
A record year for North Korean hacking
In October, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that Hackers linked to North Korea They will steal more than $2 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2025. This represents the highest total annual value ever recorded.
Now the total amount allocated to the regime exceeds $6 billion. These revenues are widely believed to support the development of nuclear and missile programs.
This year’s walk originated from Many major incidentsincluding Bybit hack worth $1.46 billionin addition to attacks on LND.fi, WOO Analysts have also linked more than 30 other hacks to North Korean groups.
Most of the violations in 2025 I started with social engineering Instead of technical faults. Hackers rely on disguises, phishing and fake support access to access wallets. The trend highlights an increasing focus on human vulnerabilities at the expense of code vulnerabilities.
Together, these trends suggest a coordinated approach, as North Korea combines internal infiltration with advanced cryptocurrency theft to expand both its income and operational footprint.
