The U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the safe return of Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman abducted by the Taliban in Kabul in August 2022. The State Department has emphasized that the United States will not tolerate hostage diplomacy and is actively seeking credible information about Habibi's whereabouts. In a separate but related national security development, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI have announced a major crackdown on a North Korean scheme involving remote IT workers. North Korean operatives used stolen American identities and fake credentials to infiltrate over 100 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 firms and defense contractors, from 2021 to 2024. These operatives worked remotely through so-called "laptop farms" located across 16 states, generating illicit revenue estimated at over $5 million that funded North Korea's weapons programs. The DOJ has charged four North Korean nationals with wire fraud and money laundering for stealing nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency from an Atlanta-based blockchain startup. The FBI arrested a U.S. national who allegedly hosted a laptop farm facilitating these operations. Authorities seized 29 bank accounts, took down 21 fake websites, and confiscated more than 200 devices during coordinated nationwide raids. Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on North Korean cyber actor Song Kum Hyok and others linked to the IT worker scheme, accusing them of cyber espionage, crypto theft, and aiding the Kim regime's weapons development. North Korean hackers also deployed sophisticated macOS malware called "NimDoor" targeting crypto firms, spreading through fake Zoom updates and Telegram, enabling theft of cryptocurrency wallets and sensitive data. This multi-faceted operation highlights ongoing U.S. efforts to counter North Korean cyber and espionage activities that exploit remote work trends to circumvent sanctions and compromise U.S. companies and national security.