Episode 348 Deep Dive: Alex Tilley | DPRK IT Workers Go Global

In this episode, we sit down with Alex Tilley, Global Threat Research Coordinator at Okta, as he unpacks the evolving threat landscape posed by North Korean IT workers infiltrating global organizations. Alex shares insights from his recent research, emphasizing that this is not just a US big tech problem but a widespread issue affecting various industries—including healthcare, automotive, and construction—across multiple countries. He highlights the sophistication of fake applicants, their use of advanced techniques to bypass hiring filters, and the alarming success rate, even if only for short periods. The conversation explores the challenges companies face in verifying remote candidates, the necessity for ongoing identification checks, and the implementation of least privilege access for new hires. Alex Tilley is a Cyber Intelligence and investigation guy with over 25 years of experience spanning the private sector and federal law enforcement. As the Australian Federal Police’s first Senior Cybercrime Senior Technical Analyst, he specialised in unmasking and prosecuting sophisticated threat actors in global cybercrime and child protection. In his current role as Global Threat Research Coordinator at Okta, he leads law enforcement liaison efforts and drives critical threat research for the world’s leading identity company.