Michael Barnhart
Nation-state insider threat investigator who tracks North Korean hackers and IT workers
Michael Barnhart (Nation-state insider threat investigator who tracks North Korean hackers and IT workers) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include North Korean remote IT worker scheme.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
North Korean remote IT worker scheme
Barnhart argues North Korea is better understood as a cyber syndicate than as a conventional government.
“I think understanding that North Korea is a cyber syndicate and less of an actual government or a nation”
To Catch a Thief: North Korea On Our Payroll: Ep. 1: Strange Things Are Happening (Jun 9, 2026) · Listen from 37:09
Barnhart estimates each North Korean IT worker has about seven personas and says companies often have multiple 'workers' who are the same person.
“I'd say for every IT worker, there's probably seven personas attached to it”
To Catch a Thief: North Korea On Our Payroll: Ep. 1: Strange Things Are Happening (Jun 9, 2026) · Listen from 38:07
Appearances
Ep. 1: Strange Things Are HappeningTo Catch a Thief: North Korea On Our Payroll · Jun 9, 2026 · 54 min
Nicole Perlroth and cybersecurity experts trace how North Korean operatives secured remote IT jobs at U.S. companies to fund the regime's weapons programs.
Often appears with
- Nicole Perlroth · 1 shared episode
- Cliff (pseudonym) · 1 shared episode
- Ben Riesenberg · 1 shared episode
- Jim Lewis · 1 shared episode
- Adam Meyers · 1 shared episode
- Ryan LaSalle · 1 shared episode
- Amy Herzog · 1 shared episode
- Rob Joyce · 1 shared episode