Rubrik, a security and AI operations company, announced the launch of season two of its award-winning documentary podcast, “To Catch a Thief: North Koreans On Our Payroll.”Based on exclusive reporting by Nicole Perlroth, bestselling author and former lead cybersecurity reporter for The New York Times, the series exposes a global labor pipeline infiltrated by North Korea – one that is quietly funneling hundreds of millions of dollars a year back to the regime, and its nuclear weapons program.

Reported over the last year, “To Catch a Thief” builds on the success of season one about Chinese hacking, which became a top five Apple documentary podcast. In the new season, Perlroth pivots to the urgent security threats North Korea represents today. She takes listeners deep into their hidden network – from a rare, inside look at a North Korean IT worker on the job, to interviews with defectors who escaped it, to knocking on the doors of unknowing citizens hosting “laptop farms” on North Korea’s behalf.

“We are witnessing a complete subversion of trust,” said Perlroth. “Hackers are no longer trying to break through your firewall. They are logging in as your employees, collecting paychecks, and actively exfiltrating sensitive data from the inside-out. Our second series exposes how this pipeline operates and what it means for global security.”

Inside the Global IT Worker Pipeline Threat
The five-part investigative documentary takes listeners inside this hidden ecosystem, from the initial deceptive hiring process to the domestic networks that facilitate it. The season spotlights:

• Deceptive Employment Tactics: How operatives bypass hiring protocols, turn off video during calls, and present fabricated resumes to secure corporate positions
• On-the-Ground Investigations: An inside look at the domestic facilitators, known as laptop farms, which operate within Western borders to host physical hardware for remote international workers
• Organized Cybercrime Convergence: How this nation-state playbook is being adopted by cybercriminal groups and fraud networks globally, impacting the job market for legitimate remote workers

“Rubrik leads important conversations about the future of cybersecurity, cyber resilience, and the increasing risk that AI presents for all forms of attack, nation states and more,” said Julia Lee, CSO, Rubrik. “From podcasts with Nicole to the original research of our Rubrik Zero Labs, we share an urgency and commitment to document when, why, and how cyber attacks happen, and how our industry must work together, and be preemptive to plan for recovery and resilience on all fronts.” 

Launch @ Rubrik Forward 
The launch of “To Catch a Thief: North Koreans On Our Payroll” has been featured during a keynote at Rubrik Forward. Attendees have experienced:

• The Official Trailer Premier: A first look at the cinematic trailer presented on the mainstage
• Expert Panel Discussion: Perlroth has moderated a discussion with leading industry threat analysts to address the strategic implications of nation-state infiltration and identity resilience

“To Catch a Thief” is available on all major podcast platforms.

About Nicole Perlroth
Nicole Perlroth spent over a decade as The New York Times’ lead cybersecurity reporter, where her groundbreaking work on Chinese cyberespionage helped lead to the first US hacking charges vs. members of the Chinese military. Her reporting on commercial spyware was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Her bestselling book, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends, an exposé on the global cyber arms race, won the FT-McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award and the Arthur Ross Foreign Policy Book of the Year Prize. It was also inducted into the Cybersecurity Canon Hall of Fame and optioned for both scripted TV and documentary film.

Since leaving The New York Times in 2021, Perlroth has served on the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Advisory Committee (CISAC), launched the cyber moonshot fund Silver Buckshot Ventures, and is a Venture Partner at Ballistic Ventures.