Amazon has announced that it has blocked more than 1,800 job applications that were submitted by suspected North Korean agents for remote IT positions. The company’s chief security officer, Stephen Schmidt, explained that the applicants used stolen or forged identities to gain employment and funnel wages back to Pyongyang’s weapons programs.
The blocking effort has been underway since April 2024, when Amazon first identified a pattern of suspicious applications. In the past year, the volume of such applications rose by nearly one‑third, and the quarter‑over‑quarter increase reached 27%, underscoring the growing scale of the threat. Amazon’s detection system combines AI‑powered screening with human verification, including background checks, credential reviews, and interview confirmation, to identify and stop these fraudulent candidates.
The move follows warnings from U.S. and South Korean authorities about “laptop farms” operated by North Korean workers. These farms use U.S.‑based computers controlled remotely from abroad, allowing operatives to bypass sanctions while appearing as legitimate U.S. employees. In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted individuals and seized equipment linked to such farms, and a woman in Arizona pleaded guilty to operating a laptop farm that facilitated North Korean operatives for three years, generating over $17 million for more than 300 U.S. companies.
Amazon’s action is part of a broader industry‑wide effort to curb state‑sponsored cyber‑espionage and financial fraud. The company’s chief security officer emphasized that the primary motive behind these applications is to funnel wages back to the North Korean regime’s weapons programs. By blocking the applications, Amazon aims to protect its systems, data, and reputation from state‑sponsored actors and to reduce the financial resources available to the regime.
The announcement signals a heightened focus on security compliance within Amazon’s hiring processes and reflects the company’s commitment to countering emerging cyber‑threats. It also highlights the need for continued investment in AI‑driven screening and human oversight to safeguard against sophisticated identity‑theft schemes that target remote workforces.
The event is considered material because it represents a significant regulatory‑compliance action that could affect Amazon’s risk profile, operational integrity, and public perception. It also demonstrates the company’s proactive stance in addressing state‑sponsored threats that could have broader implications for the technology sector.
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