You Won’t Believe Who Tried To Get Hired At Kraken—With This Fake Name! 🕵️‍♂️

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If the universe runs on improbable events, then someone at Kraken just sprinkled destiny with a large helping of absurdity. One of the planet’s leading crypto exchanges recently found itself in an awkward chat with a North Korean hacker, who, for the purposes of polite conversation and getting paid, claimed to be “Steven Smith.” (Because what says “All-American, totally-not-from-Pyongyang” more than “Steven Smith”?)

In a saga straight from CBS News, Nick Percoco—Kraken’s chief security conjurer—described a fascinating job applicant. ‘Steven’ tried to waltz into a job interview sporting the kind of resume that, if printed, would set off smoke alarms. A man allegedly moonlighting for Kim Jong Un, he joined the illustrious ranks of those on the “Do Not Hire (Or Let Near Your Crypto)” list. 🛑

Now, you might think the logical course would be to quietly thank ‘Steven’ and send him on his fictitious Texan way. But Percoco, blessed with a sense of mischief and, possibly, a troll allergy, decided they should look cyber-villainy square in the webcam and ask, “So, Steve, what part of Houston do you call the motherland?”
“We like to look the attackers right in the eyes. Some people might call it trolling as well. We call it security research… Their job is to start employment, to steal intellectual property, steal money from companies… Take home a paycheck, and do it in a widespread way.”
Of course, this is probably also how most remote-work onboarding meetings go, minus the plot to fund a regime.

The interview reached peak awkward after ‘Steven from Houston’ was asked for an ID. Following a delay (probably while consulting the “How to be Steven” wiki), he produced a screenshot of a driver’s license. Unfortunately, it declared him “Stephen Smith” living a casual 300 miles from Houston, which is close if you squint at a map with your eyes closed.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vXHlnjKbBI[/embed]

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2025-05-05 20:01