Amazon blocks 1,800 North Korean applicants amid cybersecurity concerns

December 23, 2025 (MLN): US tech giant Amazon has blocked more than 1,800 North Koreans from applying for jobs, as Pyongyang increasingly sends IT workers abroad to generate and launder funds.

In a LinkedIn post, Amazon Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt said North Korean workers have been “attempting to secure remote IT jobs with companies worldwide, particularly in the US.”

He added that the company saw nearly a one-third increase in applications from North Koreans over the past year, according to APP.

Stephen Schmidt explained that many of these applicants operate through “laptop farms,” where computers in the US are remotely controlled from overseas.

He cautioned that the issue is not unique to Amazon and is “likely happening at scale across the industry.”

Signs of North Korean applicants include incorrectly formatted phone numbers and suspicious academic credentials, he noted.

The threat is not new. In July, an Arizona woman was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for running a laptop farm that helped North Korean IT workers obtain remote jobs at over 300 US companies, generating more than $17 million for her and North Korea.

Last year, Seoul’s intelligence agency warned that North Korean operatives had used LinkedIn to pose as recruiters and target South Koreans working at defense firms to gain technological information.

“North Korea is actively training cyber personnel and infiltrating key locations worldwide,” said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

“Given Amazon’s business nature, the motive seems largely economic, with a high likelihood that the operation was planned to steal financial assets.”

North Korea’s cyber-warfare program, dating back to the mid-1990s, has expanded into a 6,000-strong unit known as Bureau 121, operating across multiple countries, according to a 2020 US military report.

In November, Washington imposed sanctions on eight individuals accused of being “state-sponsored hackers,” whose operations allegedly funded North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The US Department of the Treasury has accused North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals of stealing over $3 billion in the past three years, primarily through cryptocurrency.

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