March 29, 2026, 5:05 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Amazon is one of the largest and most well-known companies. Accordingly, there are many job positions within the corporation that people from around the world apply for. However, this can sometimes have unpleasant consequences, as has now come to light. Amazon has uncovered a North Korean spy within its ranks.
Amazon Uncovered North Korean Employee
The isolated regime in East Asia has long made dubious headlines, whether through political provocations or news about espionage and cyberattacks. The government there maintains tight control over everything, including the smartphones of the population. Apparently, citizens of the country sometimes infiltrate Western companies.
The business magazine “Bloomberg” now reports that Amazon recently fired a North Korean employee. This individual was able to join the shipping giant because an external company handled the hiring process. Additionally, a false identity was involved, which initially prevented the mole from being discovered.
Amazon sent the still unidentified North Korean employee a laptop to the U.S. state of Arizona. The computer had pre-installed security software. Shortly thereafter, it detected a particular anomaly: The keystrokes sent to Amazon’s server arrived with an unusually long delay of 110 milliseconds. Normally, only a few dozen milliseconds are expected.
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According to Amazon’s Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt, this was the indication that the person was far away—farther than Arizona. The employee’s activities were monitored for a few more days before they were terminated. As it later turned out, the address listed on his application belonged to his wife. She set up the laptop in her apartment, connected it to a North Korean server, and even accepted his salary and forwarded the money.
The woman is not unknown and is named Christina Chapman. According to a U.S. criminal case, she allegedly infiltrated North Korean IT workers into a total of 300 U.S. companies, for which she was convicted.
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Increasing Number of North Korean Applications at Amazon
Due to the keyboard delays, Amazon then specifically searched for North Korean workers and found them. Fortunately, he reportedly did not have access to important information. IT moles generate revenue for North Korea, and in the worst case, they also gain access to valuable data.
According to Amazon, they have already received a four-digit number of applications that they identified as North Korean fraud attempts. The phenomenon reportedly increased significantly in 2025. The applications repeatedly follow the same patterns. This includes, among other things, the mention of the same foreign educational institutions and former employers, whose verification is not easy. Additionally, there are always issues with certain peculiarities of the English language.