The FBI is investigating how a North Korean national was hired to work for a U.S. federal government agency, according to a senior FBI official who spoke at a conference in Washington, D.C. on July 28, 2026. The case was first reported by Federal News Network and marks a rare confirmed instance of a sanctioned North Korean gaining employment at a government agency.
The specific agency affected has not been identified, and it remains unclear how the individual was hired or whether any data or funds were stolen. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment.
North Korea is known for running coordinated, long-running campaigns to fraudulently place IT workers at private companies and multinational organizations. Thousands of North Korean IT workers are believed to have gained remote employment with U.S. and European organizations by exploiting weaknesses in hiring processes. Workers use fraudulent identities to secure remote positions, earn wages that are funneled back to the regime, and steal intellectual property — later using that information to extort employers when discovered.
Strict government vetting and security clearance practices have largely limited such infiltration of federal agencies, though not entirely. In 2024, the Justice Department charged a Maryland man with helping a North Korean hacker pose as an American to obtain a remote contractor role at the Federal Aviation Administration.
U.S. authorities have pursued enforcement actions and sanctions against North Korean IT worker networks operating from Pyongyang and neighboring Russia and China, as well as against American facilitators who set up laptop fleets enabling North Koreans to appear as if they are working from within the United States.
North Korea relies heavily on cybercrime to fund its nuclear weapons program. Blockchain forensic firms have attributed 76% of cryptocurrency thefts to the Kim Jong Un regime, with the regime netting at least $2 billion in stolen cryptocurrency during 2025 alone. This latest case suggests the regime’s infiltration efforts may extend further into U.S. government infrastructure than previously confirmed.
Source: TechCrunch