North Korean Hackers Steal $10.7M via Fake Crypto Job Offers; Anthropic Taps Accenture for AI Slowdown

A joint advisory from the US, Germany, Japan, and Australian authorities has revealed that North Korean hacking group WaterPlum, also known as Contagious Interview, stole at least $10.7 million by impersonating recruiters at legitimate crypto, AI, and NFT companies. The group targeted software developers, web designers, and IT professionals across blockchain and Web3 sectors through social media, freelance platforms, and gig work marketplaces. Victims executed malicious files disguised as coding assignments or video-conferencing fixes during fake recruitment processes. Japanese and US authorities linked WaterPlum to North Korea's Munitions Industry Department, noting connections to a broader campaign placing North Korean IT workers inside foreign companies.

In AI governance news, Anthropic has selected Accenture to serve as its first embedded evaluator for a proposed framework to slow the pace of artificial intelligence development. The framework, published by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on September 12, outlines a three-step approach to building in safeguards against potential catastrophic harms from unchecked AI advancement. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded positively to the proposal, though Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pushed back, arguing that such regulation is not necessary.

Separately, asset manager VanEck has criticized Metaplanet's executive compensation structure, even as the Japanese investment firm has taken recent steps to address shareholder dilution. Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to hover in the mid-$81,000 range, with Monero surging 14% and Solana, BNB, Stellar, and Hyperliquid posting modest gains as broader crypto markets digest shifting regulatory and macroeconomic signals.