Amazon has rebuffed nearly 2,000 job applications from North Koreans since spring last year, according to the company’s security boss. Jeff Bezos’s chief security officer, Stephen Schmidt, said in a LinkedIn post that, quarter over quarter, it has detected a 27 percent increase in job applications linked to the DPRK. “Their objective is typically straightforward: get hired, get paid, and funnel wages back to fund the regime’s weapons programs,” he said. “We’ve stopped more than 1,800 suspected DPRK operatives from joining since April 2024, and we’ve detected 27% more DPRK-affiliated applications quarter over quarter this year.” He added that “Identity theft has become more calculated,” and “Their LinkedIn strategies are getting sophisticated,” with efforts being made to secure jobs in AI. He also noted the scheme operates through “laptop farms,” which the BBC reports was, “referring to computers based in the US that are run remotely from outside of the country.” Among the techniques are the hijacking of dormant social media accounts, specifically on LinkedIn. The U.S. uncovered 29 such laptop farms being operated by North Koreans in June.