Executive market intelligence briefing
North Korean state-linked operatives are using fabricated identities, AI-assisted interviews and legitimate recruitment channels to secure software engineering roles and gain access to corporate systems and source code.
Recorded Future’s Insikt Group recently identified 22 fabricated personas applying to more than 1,100 companies, with some successfully interviewed, hired and onboarded.
The threat also works in reverse, with fake recruiters targeting existing developers using malicious take-home coding tests.
This executive briefing examines how these attacks work, what organisations are missing and how Australian businesses can reduce the risk.
When
Tuesday, 27th October 2026
Time
12:00pm - 1:00pm AEDT
2:00pm - 3:00pm NZDT
11:30am - 12:30pm ACDT
11:00am - 12:00pm AEST
10:30am - 11:30am ACST
9:00am - 10:00am AWST
Location
Online
Session Details
With guest speakers:
Ben Jones
Cyber Security Practice Manager, Coder Trove
Dan Elliott
Field CISO, Recorded Future
How North Korean operatives are getting through legitimate hiring processes and into Australian software teams
Moderated by: Steve Young, Head of Strategy at Lead Express
Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.
How fabricated candidates are getting through legitimate hiring processes
Topics:
How AI is being used to pass technical interviews
Warning signs hiring, engineering and security teams may be missing
How fake recruiters are targeting existing developers with malicious coding tests
Register Now
Who Should Attend
For Australian organisations with in-house software engineering teams, including leaders across:
- Engineering & Software Development
- Cybersecurity & IT
- Executive Leadership
- Risk & Legal
- Talent & Recruitment
Ideal for organisations with 50–10,000 employees and an in-house software engineering function.
What You'll Gain
- Understand how these operators get hired and maintain access
- Identify warning signs that can be mistaken for normal performance issues
- Strengthen candidate and identity verification
- Better protect developers from fake recruiter approaches
- Assess whether your current hiring process could detect a fabricated identity
Attendees will also receive The Human Verification Checklist from Coder Trove — 12 practical interview questions designed around behaviours and warning signs identified in Recorded Future’s research.
Practical ways to strengthen identity verification and technical recruitment security