Compliance Stuff

What’s new: Recent U.S. DOJ, FBI and Treasury actions highlight the evolution of North Korea-affiliated worker fraud schemes, which involve the use of stolen identities, fabricated credentials and domestic facilitators to secure remote IT positions at companies (both in the U.S. and globally) and funnel wages back to sanctioned governments. Why it matters: Companies that inadvertently hire these operatives face costly data breaches, cybersecurity threats and potential criminal liability as the number of fraudulent employment applications only continues to rise. What to do next: Organizations should consider reviewing and strengthening their hiring, monitoring, insider threat and incident response protocols to mitigate financial, reputational and legal exposure as enforcement activity ramps up. __________ In recent years, a sophisticated fraud scheme has emerged that poses a serious and growing threat to companies worldwide: the infiltration of corporate workforces by fraudulent rem...

Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG)  recently reported that cybercriminals—in particular, state-sponsored threat actors from North Korea, Iran, China, and Russia—are misusing Gemini, Google’s large language model (LLM), to support all stages of their attack lifecycle. Specifically, GTIG observed threat actors using Gemini to code and script tasks, accelerate reconnaissance, research publicly known vulnerabilities, and enable malware development and post-compromise activity. Examples of State-Sponsored Threat Actor’s Use of Gemini GTIG documented several examples of state-backed actors integrating Gemini into their operations, including: North Korea:  GTIG observed the North Korean government-backed group  UNC2970  use Gemini to synthesize open-source intelligence (OSINT ) and profile high-value targets to support campaign planning and reconnaissance. Iran:  The Iranian sponsored actor  APT42  used generative AI models, including Gemini, to search f...

Rapid advancements in AI technology are reshaping nearly every stage of the hiring process, from how employers source talent to how candidates present themselves . Artificial intelligence can streamline staffing activities and help job seekers polish their resumes and prepare for interviews. But an emerging concern for employers is whether applicants are using AI to game the system rather than genuinely showcase their skills. How can employers embrace these new tools while still ensuring authenticity in the hiring process? Here are three deceptive practices that could lead to bad hires and seven ways to protect your business. 3 Trends to Spot As AI tools become more sophisticated, employers face growing concerns about deepfakes, embellished work samples, and AI-generated interview responses . The first step to protect your business from these deceptive practices is to stay on top of the latest trends in this area: 1. Falsifying Job Search Materials with AI.  Many job candidates use...

Read Executive Order 14117  here . The Rule , which took effect on April 8, establishes export-like restrictions and prohibitions on transferring specific types of “bulk U.S. sensitive personal data” and certain specified “government-related data” (including of current or recent US government employees and sensitive government location data) to designated “countries of concern,” including China (with Hong Kong and Macau), Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia, as well as transactions involving “covered persons,” which includes entities that are established under the laws of by a country of concern and their employees. The Rule established high civil penalties and allows for criminal enforcement. However, on April 11, DOJ paused civil enforcement until July 8 on the express condition of “good-faith” efforts to comply, or to come into compliance with the Rule, in the meantime. Criminal enforcement was not paused. Who and What Is Covered? The Rule delineates four main categor...