Even safety specialists might be fooled. In July 2024, Knowbe4, a Florida-based firm that gives safety coaching, found {that a} new rent often called “Kyle” was truly a international agent. “He interviewed nice,” says Brian Jack, KnowBe4’s chief data safety officer. “He was on digicam, his résumé was proper, his background examine cleared, his ID cleared verification. We didn’t have any motive to suspect this wasn’t a sound candidate.” However when his facilitator—the US-based particular person giving him cowl—tried to put in malware on Kyle’s firm pc, the safety workforce caught on and shut him out.
Again in london, Simon Wijckmans couldn’t let go of the concept anyone had tried to idiot him. He’d simply learn concerning the Knowbe4 case, which deepened his suspicions. He carried out background checks and found that a few of his candidates have been undoubtedly utilizing stolen identities. And, he discovered, a few of them have been linked to recognized North Korean operations. So Wijckmans determined to wage a bit counter train of his personal, and he invited me to watch.
I dial in to Google Meet at 3 am Pacific time, drained and bleary. We intentionally picked this offensively early hour as a result of it’s 6 am in Miami, the place the candidate, “Harry,” claims to be.
Harry joins the decision, trying fairly fresh-faced. He’s possibly in his late twenties, with brief, straight, black hair. All the things about him appears intentionally nonspecific: He wears a plain black crewneck sweater and speaks into an off-brand headset. “I simply awoke early as we speak for this interview, no downside,” he says. “I do know that working with UK hours is sort of a requirement, so I can get my working hours to yours, so no downside with it.”
Up to now, every thing matches the hallmarks of a faux employee. Harry’s digital background is among the default choices supplied by Google Meet, and his connection is a contact gradual. His English is nice however closely accented, regardless that he tells us he was born in New York and grew up in Brooklyn. Wijckmans begins with some typical interview questions, and Harry retains glancing off to his proper as he responds. He talks about numerous coding languages and name-drops the frameworks he’s accustomed to. Wijckmans begins asking some deeper technical questions. Harry pauses. He seems confused. “Can I rejoin the assembly?” he asks. “I’ve an issue with my microphone.” Wijckman nods, and Harry disappears.
A few minutes cross, and I begin to fret that we’ve scared him away, however then he pops again into the assembly. His connection isn’t significantly better, however his solutions are clearer. Perhaps he restarted his chatbot, or acquired a coworker to teach him. The decision runs a number of extra minutes and we are saying goodbye.
Our subsequent applicant calls himself “Nic.” On his résumé he’s acquired a hyperlink to a private web site, however this man doesn’t look very similar to the profile picture on the positioning. That is his second interview with Wijckmans, and we’re sure that he’s faking it: He’s one of many candidates who failed the background examine after his first name, though he doesn’t know that.
Nic’s English is worse than Harry’s: When he’s requested what time it’s, he tells us it’s “six and previous” earlier than correcting himself and saying “quarter to seven.” The place does he dwell? “I’m in Ohio for now,” he beams, like a child who acquired one thing proper in a pop quiz.