Contagious Interview
Also known as DeceptiveDevelopment, Gwisin Gang, Tenacious Pungsan, DEV#POPPER, PurpleBravo, TAG-121
Contagious Interview is a North Korea–aligned threat group active since 2023. The group conducts both cyberespionage and financially motivated operations, including the theft of cryptocurrency and user credentials. Contagious Interview targets Windows, Linux, and macOS systems, with a particular focus on individuals engaged in software development and cryptocurrency-related activities.
CVEs in recent coverage
No CVEs named alongside this actor in the last 90 days.
Recent victims
No leak-site posts on record for this group.
ATT&CK techniques
Recent activity
- TraderTraitor vs Contagious Interview - A Look at Binance's Initial Incident Report https:// infosec.pub/post/54550988 [ https:// infosec.pub/u/digicat ] # mastodon · Nov 5, 2026
- TraderTraitor vs Contagious Interview - A Look at Binance's Initial Incident Reportreddit · Nov 5, 2026
- TraderTraitor vs Contagious Interview - A Look at Binance's Initial Incident Report published by SecurityAlliance. # TraderTraitor , # ContagiousInterview ,mastodon · Nov 5, 2026
- DPRK's Contagious Interview Meets ErrTraffic published by NewtonPaul. # ContagiousInterview , # ClickFix https:// newtonpaul.com/blog/dprk-conta gious-intermastodon · Oct 30, 2026
- DPRK's Contagious Interview Meets ErrTrafficreddit · Oct 29, 2026
- ESET APT Activity Report Q2 2026–Q3 2026 published by ESET. # Trend , # Scarcruft , # Lazarus , # DeceptiveDevelopment https://www. welivesecurity.com/en/eset-rmastodon · Oct 28, 2026
- Reversing a DPRK-linked toolkit that backdoors VS Code, Cursor, Discord and npm, with an Ethereum dead-drop C2 and a DEV#POPPER variantreddit · Oct 20, 2026
- Reversing a DPRK-linked toolkit that backdoors VS Code, Cursor, Discord and npm, with an Ethereum dead-drop C2 and a DEV#POPPER variantreddit · Oct 20, 2026
References
- https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-threat-intelligence-reveals-north-korean-tradecraft/
- https://www.sentinelone.com/labs/contagious-interview-threat-actors-scout-cyber-intel-platforms-reveal-plans-and-ops/
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/03/11/contagious-interview-malware-delivered-through-fake-developer-job-interviews/
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1052/
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1052
- https://reports.dtexsystems.com/DTEX-Exposing+DPRK+Cyber+Syndicate+and+Hidden+IT+Workforce.pdf
- https://securitylabs.datadoghq.com/articles/tenacious-pungsan-dprk-threat-actor-contagious-interview/
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/north-korean-threat-actors-lure-tech-job-seekers-as-fake-recruiters/
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/two-campaigns-by-north-korea-bad-actors-target-job-hunters/
- https://www.esentire.com/blog/bored-beavertail-invisibleferret-yacht-club-a-lazarus-lure-pt-2
- https://www.recordedfuture.com/research/inside-the-scam-north-koreas-it-worker-threat
- https://www.securonix.com/blog/analysis-of-devpopper-new-attack-campaign-targeting-software-developers-likely-associated-with-north-korean-threat-actors/
From the MISP threat-actor galaxy, MITRE ATT&CK and RansomLook (CC BY 4.0). Activity is any post or advisory Watch Floor collected that names the actor or one of its aliases.
