Microsoft warned Friday that North Korean operatives are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools to pose as Western job applicants and obtain remote technology positions, allowing them to funnel salaries and access to corporate systems back to Pyongyang.
According to the company, the operation relies on fabricated or stolen identities that are used to apply for software development and IT positions at companies in Western countries.
Microsoft said the individuals involved rely on AI-generated images to create professional headshots, develop believable Western-sounding names and email addresses, and customize job applications to match specific postings. During job interviews, the company reported that some applicants employ voice-modification technology to disguise their accents.
The company also said the operatives continue using artificial intelligence after being hired, relying on it to draft emails, translate documents, and produce code while attempting to avoid suspicion. One network of North Korean operatives tracked by Microsoft under the name Jasper Sleet, the company said, “leverages AI across the attack lifecycle to get hired, stay hired, and misuse access at scale.”
Officials say the scheme is significant because it has evolved from simple payroll fraud into a broader security concern for companies.
U.S. authorities have previously said North Korean remote IT worker operations depend on stolen or falsified identities, facilitators located in the United States, and so-called laptop farms that allow workers located overseas to appear as though they are operating computers inside the United States.
In June 2025, the Justice Department said the schemes had infiltrated more than 100 American companies. The FBI has also warned that in some cases the workers have taken sensitive corporate data or attempted to extort companies using the information.
Microsoft said it shut down roughly 3,000 Outlook and Hotmail accounts last year that were connected to fraudulent North Korean IT worker operations.
The company advised employers to take additional precautions during hiring, including conducting interviews via video or in person and watching for potential signs of manipulated images such as irregularities around faces, eyes, ears, or glasses.
Federal investigators have issued similar recommendations, urging companies to strengthen identity verification procedures, closely examine employment histories, and carefully review remote hiring practices.
Upwork, one of the online job platforms mentioned as a site where software and IT roles are often posted, said it actively works to identify and remove fraudulent users from its marketplace.
{Matzav.com}
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday that gasoline prices could begin declining within a matter of weeks despite a recent surge tied to the escalating conflict with Iran, arguing that the disruption affecting global oil markets will likely prove temporary.
Speaking in an interview, Wright blamed Iran’s leadership for decades of volatility in energy markets. “Look, Iran’s been an escalator of energy prices [for] 47 years, the whole history of their regime,” Wright said.
He added that the current turmoil reflects a short-term disruption tied to efforts to stop Tehran’s actions in the region. “We got a little bit of an interruption right now to finally put an end to their ability to wreak havoc, to kill Americans, and to terrorize their neighbors.”
Wright’s comments came as global energy markets reacted to a sharp rise in oil and gasoline prices following U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iranian targets and Iran’s efforts to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The strategic waterway is considered one of the most critical oil transit routes in the world.
The narrow passage links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and typically carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s petroleum liquids supply.
Because of its importance, any threat to vessels moving through the strait raises immediate concerns in global markets and among American drivers monitoring fuel prices.
According to AAA, the national average cost of regular gasoline reached $3.32 per gallon on Friday, compared with $2.98 just one week earlier, as crude oil prices climbed and traders assessed the possibility of extended supply disruptions.
Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, cautioned that prolonged interference with shipping could significantly worsen the situation.
“That means millions of barrels of oil that would normally flow to global markets simply aren’t reaching buyers,” De Haan said.
“Every additional day [of] the disruption continues compounds the problem. Even if the Strait reopened immediately, the market would still face the challenge of catching up on days’ worth of missing shipments — an increasingly difficult task as the backlog grows.”
Market analysts have warned that if the Strait of Hormuz were to remain closed or severely restricted for an extended period, oil prices could rise substantially, increasing inflationary pressures and potentially creating political challenges in Washington after several months during which fuel costs had remained below levels seen throughout much of 2024 and early 2025.
President Donald Trump, who emphasized reducing energy costs during his 2024 campaign, dismissed concerns Thursday about a long-term increase in gasoline prices.
“I don’t have any concern about it,” Trump told Reuters.
“They’ll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”
Administration officials have said that military and naval actions currently underway are intended in part to stabilize energy markets, though investors are closely watching how long the conflict continues and whether commercial shipping can safely move through the Gulf.
Wright expressed confidence that markets will rebalance more quickly than many consumers expect.
He said the period before prices begin to decline will likely be measured in weeks rather than months.
For American drivers, however, the direction of gasoline prices will likely depend less on domestic demand and more on developments in the Middle East.
Shipping routes, refinery output, and oil export flows are expected to determine fuel price movements from day to day.
{Matzav.com}
Two shuls in Toronto, Canada, were struck by gunfire overnight in separate incidents that are now under investigation by local authorities.
The buildings hit were identified as the BAYT and Shaarei Shomayim shuls.
Police in Toronto and the neighboring York Region reported on social media that shots were fired at the two houses of worship around midnight. Authorities said that while bullets struck the buildings, no one was injured in either incident.
In a message posted on X, Toronto police acknowledged the fear such attacks create within the community. “We recognize that incidents like this are deeply concerning for members of the Jewish community. Synagogues in both Toronto and York region have been struck by gunfire this week,” the department said, noting that additional police presence has been deployed in Jewish neighborhoods throughout the area.
Jewish communities across Canada have experienced a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks in recent years. Incidents have included shootings and firebombings targeting Jewish institutions and community buildings.
Another shooting incident occurred earlier in the week when a shul was targeted on Tuesday. The attack took place shortly after the building had hosted Purim celebrations, with some individuals still present inside at the time.
Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilevre reacted strongly to the latest incidents, saying he was “appalled” by the Friday night shootings at the Shaarei Shomayim and Beth Avraham Yoseph shuls and warning that the Jewish community “is under attack in Canada.”
According to CBC, police had already stepped up patrols and increased their presence across the greater Toronto area earlier this week due to heightened tensions connected to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli commandos carried out a rare overnight raid deep inside eastern Lebanon in an effort to locate the remains of missing Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad, the military said, while accompanying Israeli airstrikes in the area reportedly killed dozens of people, according to Lebanese officials.
Helicopter-borne Israeli forces landed in the town of Nabi Chit in the Bekaa Valley during the operation. Israeli warplanes simultaneously conducted heavy strikes in the area. Local authorities in Lebanon said the bombardment resulted in at least 41 deaths. The Israeli military said none of its troops were harmed.
The Israel Defense Forces later stated that the operation did not uncover evidence connected to Arad’s remains. However, the military said the mission allowed it to eliminate one of the potential scenarios regarding where the navigator’s body might be located. Arad’s aircraft was shot down over Lebanon four decades ago.
According to the military, Arad’s relatives were informed about the developments following the raid. His widow later released a statement stressing that the family does not want Israeli soldiers placed in danger in efforts to retrieve his remains.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the issue tonight, reiterating that Israel remains committed to locating Arad and other missing Israelis.
“The operation carried out last night did not produce what we were looking for,” he says in a statement, “but the commitment of Israel, and my personal commitment, to completing all missions concerning our prisoners and missing persons is absolute.”
Reports about the raid first emerged overnight through Lebanese state media and Hezbollah outlets, which said Israeli troops attempted to land by helicopter in Nabi Chit, an area regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold near the Lebanese-Syrian border in the Baalbek district.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, citing the country’s health ministry, initially reported that Israeli strikes in Nabi Chit left at least 16 people dead and 35 injured. Later updates from the ministry raised the toll to 41 killed and 40 wounded.
Hezbollah claimed that its fighters had spotted Israeli aircraft entering the area. In a statement, the organization said its operatives had “observed the infiltration of four Israeli enemy army helicopters from the Syrian direction.”
According to Hezbollah’s account, once Israeli forces landed, troops moving toward the Nabi Chit cemetery were confronted by Hezbollah fighters. The group said its members used light and medium weapons during the encounter.
Hezbollah also alleged that Israeli forces responded with intense airstrikes before extracting the troops and later claimed its fighters fired rockets during the Israeli withdrawal.
Video circulated on social media showed what appeared to be heavy gunfire in the area.
Additional footage published by Lebanese media purportedly showed Israeli helicopters and soldiers operating near the town. Later images and videos appeared to show a large hole dug near the edge of a cemetery, believed to have been excavated by Israeli troops during the operation.
Saudi broadcaster al-Hadath first reported, without citing sources, that the raid may have been aimed at recovering the remains of Arad.
The IDF later confirmed the operation on this afternoon but rejected Hezbollah’s claims of direct combat. The military said there had been no clashes with Hezbollah fighters and that Israeli forces had not come under fire.
According to the IDF, troops carried out their activity in Nabi Chit while heavy airstrikes were launched to seal off the area. The military said anyone approaching the forces during the operation was targeted.
The IDF said the raid followed an “operational opportunity” created after evacuation orders were issued in Nabi Chit the previous day, along with additional intelligence gathered during the ongoing fighting with Hezbollah.
Arad disappeared in October 1986 after his aircraft was shot down over southern Lebanon during the country’s civil war. At the time, it was believed that he had been captured by the Shiite Amal movement.
Over the years, Arad has widely been presumed dead, though his remains have never been recovered.
In remarks issued after the raid, Arad’s widow, Tami, reiterated the family’s long-standing position that Israeli soldiers should not be endangered in attempts to retrieve his remains.
“We understand that our words until now have not been understood by the decision-makers and therefore it’s important for us to clarify: Our desire to know what happened to Ron stops as soon as there is risk to IDF soldiers,” she wrote on Facebook.
“In our eyes, the sanctity of life comes before the commitment to return the remains of a fighter for burial. This is our worldview also regarding our loved one who disappeared some 40 years ago,” she wrote.
“We have stated as a family on more than one occasion that we oppose actions that would endanger soldiers. That’s why we say to the prime minister of Israel: We thank everyone involved in the intelligence activity concerning Ron. We value the commitment of the State of Israel, yet we request in every way possible, do not carry out operations that have even minimal risk to the troops,” Arad wrote.
“For 40 years we have lived with the fact that Ron is missing, we want to know what happened to Ron, but not at any cost. The sanctity of life comes above the closing of a circle of certainty for us. We prefer to live with the painful possibility that Ron’s bones are in Lebanon rather than wake up in the morning to the news that an IDF soldier was injured, or God forbid, killed, in an operation to bring back his remains, if indeed they are his,” she wrote.
“We thank the IDF soldiers and security forces and appreciate those who worked for Ron, and we ask that our request to sanctify life be honored,” she said.
Israeli intelligence assessments have long suggested that after being held by Amal, Arad may have been transferred to Iranian custody. According to Israeli beliefs, he may have been moved from Lebanon to Iran and later returned.
During the first two years after his capture, Israel received several indications that he was alive, including photographs and letters. The last such communication arrived on May 5, 1988.
Since the mid-1990s, Arad has generally been presumed dead, although intelligence reports have differed regarding when, where, and how he may have died.
Israeli officials believe Arad may have been held in the Nabi Chit region following his capture, and the area has been searched in the past as part of efforts to locate his remains.
Lebanese reports also noted that in December, a retired Lebanese security official from Nabi Chit who had been linked to Arad’s capture disappeared.
The Israeli military said today that it would “continue to operate tirelessly, day and night, out of a deep commitment to bringing all our sons, the fallen and the missing, back home to Israel.” Three soldiers are still classified by the IDF as missing: Maj. Arad, Staff Sgt. Guy Hever, and Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz.
The overnight raid represented the deepest Israeli incursion into Lebanon in recent years, following a 2024 operation in which Israeli special forces captured Hezbollah operative Imad Amhaz in the northern Lebanese city of Batroun.
{Matzav.com}
