Key Highlights
- Coinbase halts remote onboarding following hacker infiltration attempts
- New employees are required to attend in-person orientation and undergo fingerprinting in the U.S.
- FBI confirms instances of fake interviews, bribes, and deepfakes associated with North Korea
Revised Policies, Genuine Threats: The Shift Away from Remote Work at Coinbase
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has officially announced modifications to the hiring process, ending remote onboarding and instituting new security measures. This decision follows several infiltration occurrences involving North Korean IT personnel attempting to breach the exchange’s critical infrastructure.
“It seems there are 500 new graduates entering the workforce every quarter, and that’s their only job,” Armstrong stated during a conversation with Stripe co-founder John Collison on the Cheeky Pint podcast.
All new hires are now mandated to undergo an in-person orientation within the U.S. Those who need access to sensitive systems must be U.S. citizens and will go through fingerprint checks.
These enhanced protocols are designed to prevent deepfake interviews, phony identities, and bribery schemes, which have all been reportedly utilized to obtain insider access within crypto companies.
FBI Alerts, Actual Convictions & $900K Thefts: The Larger Context
The FBI has consistently alerted that North Korean operatives are disguised as independent developers and engineers to breach U.S. firms, particularly in the cryptocurrency sector. In July, the agency disclosed that these individuals were collaborating with both aware and unaware Americans, utilizing fake businesses, company laptops, and even partaking in virtual interviews on behalf of others.
In a notable case, a District of Columbia court sentenced an American woman to 8.5 years in prison for assisting North Korean nationals in securing tech roles using false identities.
Simultaneously, Armstrong highlighted a rising issue: bribery.
“The intruders offered substantial sums to our support staff to capture sensitive information,” he mentioned. “When we identify individuals, we don’t merely escort them out; they face prosecution.”
This stringent approach has prompted Coinbase to expand its domestic operations, including a new customer service center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Deepfakes, Assistance & Coercion: The Strategies Employed by Hackers
To tackle AI-driven deception and impersonation, Coinbase now mandates all candidates to activate their cameras during interviews. This aims to identify whether a participant is receiving coaching, offscreen aid, or even being substituted by a deepfake or AI entity.
“It’s not worth facing imprisonment,” Armstrong cautions, stressing that even significant bribes don’t justify the risk.
The firm has become increasingly vigilant regarding these tactics after hackers reportedly utilized scripted coaching and live assistance during interviews to deceive HR departments.
