What Happened:
On May 16, 2022, the US Department of State, US Department of Treasury, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued combined guidance (“IT Workers Advisory”) on efforts by North Korean nationals to secure freelance engagements as remote information technology (“IT”) workers by posing as non-North Korea nationals. The IT Workers Advisory provides employers with detailed information on how North Korean IT workers operate, highlights red flag indicators for companies hiring freelance developers and for freelance and payment platforms to identify these workers, and provides general mitigation measures for companies to better protect against inadvertently engaging these workers or facilitating the operations of the North Korean government in violation of US sanctions.