New Delhi: Sometimes the smallest glitch can uncover the biggest story. That is exactly what happened inside Amazon, where a tiny delay in keyboard typing
helped expose a North Korean impostor working as an IT system administrator in the United States. Bloomberg reported that Amazon security teams noticed unusual keystroke lag on a laptop that was supposed to be used by a U.S. based remote worker. What looked like a normal staff system turned into a full scale investigation.
This is both surprising and slightly cinematic. A few extra milliseconds of lag, a curious security team, and suddenly a secret operation comes to light. Amazon’s Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt spoke about the case and explained how these infiltration attempts are far from rare and why the company has decided to constantly watch out for them.
How Amazon spotted the North Korean impostor through lag
According to Bloomberg, Amazon’s internal monitoring systems picked up something strange. Normally, keystroke data travels in just a few milliseconds. In this case, the lag was “more than 110 milliseconds,” which was unusual. The company dug deeper and discovered that the laptop of this supposed U.S. remote employee was being remotely controlled. Schmidt said, “If we had not been looking for the DPRK workers, we would not have found them.”
Amazon confirmed that since April 2024, it has stopped more than 1,800 North Korean infiltration attempts. The company believes these attempts are increasing, with a reported 27 percent quarter on quarter rise in efforts made by DPRK linked workers. The aim behind such infiltrations often includes earning foreign currency, gathering information, or even sabotage. Schmidt also stressed that strong security tools made the investigation possible.
Remote access, fake identities and a growing global worry
Investigators later discovered that the compromised laptop was physically located in Arizona, but was under the control of North Korean handlers. A woman involved in facilitating such frauds was sentenced to multiple years in prison earlier this year. Another interesting observation shared in the report is that many impostors struggle with American style English usage. Their awkward use of idioms and articles sometimes gives them away during conversations.
There have been multiple such attempts across different U.S. companies, and agencies like the FBI have also seized equipment in separate investigations. Bloomberg notes that Iran, Russia and China are also seen as active sources of similar infiltration efforts. That paints a very serious picture of how corporate networks are constantly under pressure.
A lesson in security vigilance for big tech firms
What stands out here is not just the infiltration attempt, but Amazon’s decision to look for such threats aggressively. Schmidt credited the company’s proactive approach and said that they found these impostors only because they were actively searching. It serves as an important reminder that cyber threats today are no longer only about malware or hacking. Sometimes they walk right in as “employees.”
A keyboard lag that most of us would simply ignore became a giant red alert in this case. And if anything, it shows how cybersecurity is now deeply human, deeply political and sometimes quietly dramatic too.
