Aug 22, 03:30 PM

Coinbase Ends Remote-First Hiring Amid North Korean Infiltration Threat

Coinbase Global Inc. is tightening its hiring and security practices, rolling back its signature remote-first policy after detecting repeated attempts by North Korean IT workers to secure jobs at the cryptocurrency exchange. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said all new recruits must now travel to the United States for on-site orientation, a step he called essential to verify “proof of physical presence” amid rising use of deepfakes and other identity-spoofing tools. Under the new rules, any employee with access to sensitive systems must be a U.S. citizen, submit to fingerprinting and appear on camera during remote interviews. Armstrong told the “Cheeky Pint” podcast that Coinbase is also prioritizing candidates with family ties in the country, fearing that workers based overseas could avoid prosecution if they choose to flee. The measures follow an FBI advisory that North Korean freelancers are posing as remote contractors to funnel hard currency to Pyongyang. Armstrong said some Coinbase employees have been offered bribes of “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to leak customer information. In May, data obtained from bribed offshore contractors exposed personal details of about 69,000 users, prompting the company to shift more customer-support functions to a new facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. Armstrong’s hard-line approach extends beyond security. He confirmed that several software engineers were recently dismissed for failing to activate GitHub Copilot or Cursor accounts within a week, framing rapid adoption of artificial-intelligence coding tools as mandatory as Coinbase aims for AI to generate half of its code base this quarter.

#North Korean #Brian Armstrong #United States #Armstrong #Coinbase #FBI #Pyongyang #Charlotte #North Carolina #GitHub Copilot #Cursor

Written with ChatGPT .

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