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North Korean Spies Are Infiltrating U.S. Companies Through Remote IT Jobs (wsj.com)
21 points by xqcgrek2 30 days ago | hide | past | favorite | 9 comments



Yawn. This is poor hiring practice - having been involved in the interview process and "caught" fake candidates, its fairly obvious. They have zero personality, can barely speak English, don't react to small-talk, their resumes are super generic (literally copy/paste jobs), and they can't speak at all to their experience. For example, if you suspect something fishy, ask some questions about the challenges they had implementing a policy or rolling out a new technology. If they've worked at big and small companies, ask some soft ball questions about the culture and what they prefer. They'll likely hang up.

Having a Chinese spy serve as the deputy chief of staff to two NY Governor's is wayy more concerning: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/4/who-is-linda-sun-ex-...


Exactly. I find the "remote worker" which hunt is gaining momentum in certain industries. I'm working in for a fortune 500 US company (one of EU offices) that has been trying to implement "back to the office" policy for last 6 months without effect (all contractors basically said they will walk out - plenty of work elsewhere). I suspect the expensive buildings they own at prime locations are starting to weight heavy on their accounts. A week ago I spoke to a vendor in the US (another fortune 500 company) and he too said they are being "forced back into the office". I realise for people who actually live in the US at their high expenses it is very hard to walk out especially in today's layoff prone climate.

But, there is no going back. Companies that try going back will not attract talent. So they have been trying to paint remote work in bad light for last year. The truth is, it is the biggest innovation in labour since the industrial revolution and the luditites will be left behind.


> This is poor hiring practice

Yes, and they are lots of poor and lazy hiring practices out there in the wild - especially if the price is right.

Even beyond that, it may be the case right now that they are fairly easy to spot. But, they will learn what their 'tells' are and work to correct them. They will get better and better at it. So then what do you do?


Remote work is clearly going to result in nuclear destruction by the NKs. Party’s over!


All I here is about the gauntlet of interviews people have to go through to get a job.

How are the people getting through the interview process? Are these individuals working through a third-party that's covering for them?


My assumption is that they make it through at large, "boring" corporate jobs.

I just can't imagine any of the startups I've ever worked for falling prey to this. Until the pandemic, easily 2/3 of the companies I seriously pursued flew me to their HQ for in-person interviews.


Probably because they are willing to work for a lot less compensation!






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