North Korean hacker got hired by US security vendor, immediately loaded malware

Enlarge / On the left, a stock photo. On the right, an AI-enhanced image based on the stock photo. The AI-enhanced image was submitted to KnowBe4 by a job applicant. (credit: KnowBe4)

KnowBe4, a US-based security vendor, revealed that it unwittingly hired a North Korean hacker who attempted to load malware into the company’s network. KnowBe4 CEO and founder Stu Sjouwerman described the incident in a blog post yesterday, calling it a cautionary tale that was fortunately detected before causing any major problems.

“First of all: No illegal access was gained, and no data was lost, compromised, or exfiltrated on any KnowBe4 systems,” Sjouwerman wrote. “This is not a data breach notification, there was none. See it as an organizational learning moment I am sharing with you. If it can happen to us, it can happen to almost anyone. Don’t let it happen to you.”

KnowBe4 said it was looking for a software engineer for its internal IT AI team. The firm hired a person who, it turns out, was from North Korea and was “using a valid but stolen US-based identity” and a photo that was “enhanced” by artificial intelligence. There is now an active FBI investigation amid suspicion that the worker is what KnowBe4’s blog post called “an Insider Threat/Nation State Actor.”