Widespread Fortune 500 firm infiltration conducted by North Koreans

CyberScoop reports that hundreds of Fortune 500 companies were noted by Mandiant Consulting Chief Technology Officer Charles Carmakal to have been penetrated by North Korean IT workers seeking to compromise firms' IT infrastructure and data from the inside. Mounting enterprise action against the fake IT worker scheme has also prompted North Korea, which has already generated significant income from such illicit activity, to extort targeted firms as part of its new strategy, said Carmakal during a media briefing at this year's RSA Conference. North Korean operatives were previously reported by DTEX to have infiltrated 7% of its customer base, which consists of Fortune 2000 organizations. "The concern that we have is that there's always the potential that at some point in time, these actors that have taken data as part of their employment may publish it on the internet. We haven't seen it happen yet, but that's the fear that most of these organizations have today," Carmakal added.