More than 100 laptops linked to North Korea seized in North Texas, officials say

Federal agents recently seized over 100 laptops in North Texas that were being used by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to raise funds for its nuclear weapons program, officials said at a news conference Tuesday.

“This operation is very significant because it did far more than recover hardware,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould at the news conference. “It exposed and disrupted a hostile, state- system designed to steal American identities, infiltrate American businesses and siphon off American wages.”

According to Raybould, North Korea oversees a network of IT employees who infiltrate U.S. companies posing as remote workers. They masquerade as legitimate employees and disguise their location through the use of virtual private networks and proxy servers, the federal prosecutor said.

“Their goal is to generate revenue for the sanctioned North Korea regime,” Raybould said.

It’s estimated the North Korea IT worker program brought in over $800 million in 2024, according to Raybould.

Over the past year, Raybould said, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI uncovered a network of “laptop farms.” Facilitators in the U.S. would receive laptops from companies who thought they were sending equipment to new employees.

Instead, the facilitators installed remote access software on the laptops and allowed North Korean operatives to control them. That gave these overseas IT workers an entry point into U.S. companies, systems, communications and financial platforms, Raybould said.

Raids on these laptop farms in Texas, known as Operation Lone Star Roundup, resulted in the seizure of more than 185 laptops and other electronic devices across the state. More than 100 of these were recovered in North Texas.

“The seizure of these devices deprives the DPRK of valuable revenue and its ability to blend into the American workforce,” Raybould said.

The FBI also uncovered multiple fraudulent Google accounts that were used to gain access to the U.S. job market, according to Raybould.

Officials say the rise in remote work has made this type of infiltration easier. Raybould described the affected companies as “victims,” and said many U.S. businesses don’t even know this type of threat exists.

› DNA confirms body was missing flight attendant

› 21 years later, family looks for answers to mother’s murder

› 2 jail officers arrested in use of force against inmate