Justice Department says North Korean-linked operatives infiltrated dozens of U.S. companies

Federal investigators say the campaign reached at least 70 companies and left U.S. firms facing data theft and losses of around $3 million.

The Justice Department says North Korean-linked operatives used U.S.-based facilitators and Texas laptop farms to infiltrate American companies, steal data, and generate money for the regime. Prosecutors said they have indicted and arrested at least two people, seized more than 180 computers, and searched over 40 suspected laptop farms across Texas. The agency said at least 70 U.S. companies were hit across healthcare, cyber support, retail, communications, and manufacturing, with losses of around $3 million. The FBI separately warned that thousands of North Korean-controlled IT workers are embedded at Western companies and present an insider-threat risk for intellectual property theft.