North Korean hackers ran a US 'laptop farm' from a woman's home in Arizona

Christina Chapman, a 50-year-old Arizona resident, was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for helping North Korean hackers in a massive fraud scheme. She provided access to her home, where she organized a so-called "laptop farm" — more than 90 corporate computers that were used by hackers from North Korea, Ars Technica reports.

Hackers used VPNs, proxies, and remote access programs like AnyDesk to masquerade as American workers and perform work remotely, receiving salaries from more than 300 American companies, including Nike. Often, these "workers" also stole data or installed malware.

To do this, hackers stole personal data of US citizens, created fake resumes, filled out I-9 forms to prove their right to work. Chapman helped them, even sending documents from her address, although she herself was afraid to sign the papers - understanding that this would entail criminal liability. She kept records of cars, marking them with stickers, indicating who "works" and where.

In a letter to the court, she explained that she agreed to participate in the scheme in search of a job that would allow her to be near her mother, who was suffering from cancer. After her arrest, Chapman thanked the FBI, expressed her condolences to the victims, and said that after her release she wanted to write books and launch her own lingerie brand.

But her actions have caused real pain, with victims of identity theft suffering financial and emotional losses. Chapman must also pay back more than $176,000 and forfeit nearly $285,000 that was intended for North Koreans. The FBI warns that such "remote work" scams are becoming more common.

Recall, in April, Google issued a warning that North Korean IT workers are also targeting European companies, and in order to get a job there, they are posing as Ukrainians. In addition, North Korea has created a separate hacking unit that focuses on hacking using artificial intelligence. There are already known cases when hackers used ChatGPT to penetrate Western companies.