The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 5th, 2024: North Korean Infiltration & Terror Scare In Germany

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    Cyber security experts are warning that North Korea is getting more creative in their attempts in infiltrate American companies, leveraging the post-COVID boom in remote work to access networks and steal intellectual property, netting hundreds of millions of dollars for the Kim regime. Germany is on edge after an 18-year-old Austrian gunman with Islamist ties was shot dead by authorities in Munich on Thursday after exchanging fire close to the Israeli consulate. The incident comes on the anniversary of the 1972 attack by Palestinians at the Munich Olympics that killed 11 Israeli athletes. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Email: [e-mail].  Patriot Gold: https://www.patriotgoldgroup.com Say Mike Baker sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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stage. Let's get briefed. First, cybersecurity experts are warning that North Korea is getting both more creative and more aggressive in their attempts to infiltrate American companies, leveraging the post-COVID boom in remote work to access company networks and steal intellectual property. Netting, get this, hundreds of millions of dollars for the Kim regime. Also, Germany is on edge. After an 18-year-old Austrian gunman with Islamist ties was shot dead by authorities, in Munich on Thursday, and that's after exchanging gunfire close to the Israeli consulate. The incident comes on the anniversary of the 1972 attack by Palestinians at the Munich Olympics that resulted in the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes.

But first, our afternoon spotlight. Let's begin with the North Korean regime. Security experts are warning that Kim Jong-un's minions are engaged in a sprawling cyber-espionage operation that has been successfully infiltrating U.S. companies by using stolen identities to pose as remote IT workers. Now, according to an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal, since at least 2022, North Koreans have been hired for hundreds, if not thousands, of low-level information technology jobs and other digital roles at U.S. companies. Justice Department sources told the journal that the scheme has helped North Korea evade strict international sanctions by netting Kim Jong-un's

cash-starved regime hundreds of millions of dollars. While we know North Korean cyber spies have long been working to steal sensitive intellectual property and military secrets, of course, from the U.S., it appears the COVID pandemic gave the Hermit Kingdom a new vector of attack, and that would be remote jobs. The scheme employs generative AI tools to create fake but convincing LinkedIn profiles to full prospective recruiters. The North Korean cyber spies then use laptop farms run by agents on the ground in the U.S. who install remote desktop software to make it appear that the North Koreans are working from within the U.S. Once hired by a U.S. company, the North Korean agents will often use their IT role to steal intellectual property, deploy malware,

or open up back doors to facilitate cyber attacks. They do all of this while earning a pay check. The companies are paying them because, well, they're remote workers or otherwise defrauding American companies. Those funds are then funneled back to North Korea, which has allegedly poured the hundreds of millions of dollars of profits into their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program. Now, I know that you're as surprised as I am that Kim hasn't been using these ill-gotten gains to feed the population of North Korea and to improve their quality of life. That's just surprising. Interestingly, in some cases, the hired North Korean agents would actually perform their job duties without engaging in any sabotage, earning a steady paycheck that would be partially

claimed by the Kim regime. Analysts with Google Cloud's Mandant Cyberthreat Division said they were stunned at the apparent scale of the operation. Michael Barnhart, a senior Mandian analyst, told the journal, quote, once we peeled back these onion layers, we realized these IT workers, are everywhere." Earlier this year, Mandian shared nearly 800 email addresses suspected of belonging to North Korean IT workers with private sector security firms and found that 10% of the emails had been used just between February and August alone to apply to thousands of remote positions. At least 236 of these applications led to conversations with recruiters.

More disturbingly, at least five of the applications were sent to critical infrastructure companies in the U.S. Now, as you can imagine, that's a favorite target of North Korean hackers looking to destabilize essential services in America. A startup technology company called Cinder said they'd been overwhelmed by North Korean agents posing as IT workers. Representatives for the company said they began receiving fraudulent applications in early 2023, and that roughly 80% of applicants from certain job sites were suspected North Korean operatives. technology companies reached for comment by the journal said that the uptick in applications from North Korean spies has significantly intensified over the past two years. The revelations come on the

heels of a federal indictment unsealed in May that alleges an American woman in Arizona and an Ukrainian national ran a network of laptop farms that landed North Korean operatives positions at more than 300 U.S. companies. In that scheme, the agents stole the identities of 60 U.S. citizens and sent roughly $6.8 million back to Pyongyang for use by the Kim regime. Coming up after the break, Germany is on edge after an 18-year-old Austrian gunman with Islamist ties was shot dead by authorities in Munich on Thursday after exchanging gunfire close to the Israeli consulate. I'll be right back. How many discounts does USA auto insurance offer?

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Turn your big business idea into? Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. I want to turn your attention now to a potential terror incident in Germany where police fatally shot an Islamist gumman near the Israeli consulate and a Nazi history museum in Munich on Thursday. The incident came on the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympics terror attack as the city marked the event where Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli

athletes during the 1972 games. The gunman, an 18-year-old Austrian National, known to authorities for his Islamist ties, traveled to Germany from Austria's Salzburg region, and early Thursday morning, police responded to reports of a man armed with a long-barreled gun. According to police spokesperson, Andreas Franken, when officers approached the individual, an exchange of gunfire ensued, the suspect was fatally wounded during the confrontation and died at the scene. No officers or staff at the nearby Israeli consulate, which was closed for a memorial service, were reported injured. Bavaria's interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, confirmed that the suspect shot at the police

first, prompting them to return fire. The firearm and the suspect's possession was described as an old model with a repeating mechanism. Five officers were present during the incident, and additional units were deployed to boost security. Now, German Interior Minister Nancy Faser labeled the event a, quote, serious incident and emphasized the importance of protecting Israeli facilities within Germany. Israeli President Isaac Herzog also commented, saying he had spoken with his German counterpart to express, quote, condemnation and horror over what he referred to as a, quote, terror attack. Authorities are investigating the gunman's motives, exploring possible terrorism links,

while Munich police remain tight-lipped about the specifics, the timing and location of the incident have raised suspicions about a potential connection to the 52nd anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack. During those attacks, Palestinian terrorists from the Black September organization took 11 Israeli athletes hostage, killing them all and also killing a West German police officer. The shooting on Thursday comes at a time of rising anti-Semitism and extremist violence in Europe. Recent reports show that nearly 40% of global anti-Semitic incidents in 2003 occurred in Europe. Germany in particular has seen a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents with reports nearly doubling in recent years. The Munich police averged the public to remain

vigilant, but reassured citizens that there's no immediate threat to safety in other parts of Germany's third largest city. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday, 5 September. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us at PDB at thefirstTV.com. And with the weekend approaching, and I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that it's right around the corner, that means that the PDB team is busy producing a new episode of our weekend show, the PDB Situation Report. If I'm not mistaken, the house band is rehearsing, folks are dressing the set, and I believe our most excellent guests this week are consuming snacks and tasty beverages in the PDB green room before we tape. You'll find it on the

first TV, of course, as well as our YouTube channel. Please check that out. That's at President's Daily Brief, and of course, all podcast platforms. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Ryan Reynolds here from IntMobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistants assistants assistants switch you to MintMobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required.

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