Companies hiring remote IT workers could be inadvertently allowing fraudsters linked to North Korea to infiltrate their networks, according to cybersecurity firm Nametag. The Seattle-based company says its new identity verification tool, VerifiedHire, is designed to prevent unauthorized access during employee onboarding.
The risk of fraudulent IT hires has been growing, particularly as North Korean operatives seek to secure remote jobs to evade sanctions and fund weapons programs, Nametag said. The U.S. government has warned that North Korean IT professionals use fake identities to gain employment with global companies, sometimes siphoning millions of dollars to the regime.
Nametag says VerifiedHire can block these attempts by verifying the identities of new hires through its Deepfake Defense technology, which detects AI-generated faces and other impersonation tactics. The tool integrates with major identity and access management systems, such as Okta and Microsoft Entra, and works alongside IT service management platforms like ServiceNow.
“Employee onboarding is a gap in IT security that nobody has been able to figure out—except Nametag,” said the senior IT director at a publicly traded biotechnology company, according to the company’s announcement.
VerifiedHire directs new hires through a self-service portal where they verify their identity before setting up credentials and enrolling in multi-factor authentication. The process replaces older, more vulnerable credentialing systems that rely on temporary passwords.
The company said VerifiedHire can also help organizations detect fraud among contractors, giving security teams greater visibility into potential insider threats. The tool is available now, with future integrations planned for HR systems such as Workday.
