what is a laptop farm

A laptop farm is a physical cluster of internet-connected laptops maintained by one or two operators that simulates multiple individuals working remotely from different locations. Each laptop in the farm runs under a distinct user profile or company-issued credential. Operators use tools like remote desktop protocols to allow users—often remote actors or cybercriminals—to access these laptops, creating the illusion that many distinct individuals are working from various places. Laptop farms are often used for fraudulent purposes, such as identity laundering, unauthorized access to corporate systems, and bypassing geographical and security checks. For example, North Korean operators have used laptop farms across multiple U.S. states to pose as American tech workers to secure remote jobs under stolen identities. These farms serve as a hard infrastructure supporting large-scale remote work fraud and cyber espionage, enabling single individuals to hold multiple remote jobs simultaneously while disguising their true location. Such laptop farms have been central to cybercrime cases involving foreign operatives, and they pose serious risks to companies' cybersecurity. The hardware-based setup makes laptop farms difficult to trace and shut down compared to purely digital schemes like phishing. Law enforcement combats these operations by looking for unusual login patterns, repeated IP addresses, device fingerprints, and verifying physical addresses of remote workers. In essence, a laptop farm is a cluster of real laptops used to create fake remote work identities and locations, exploited for fraud, espionage, or other illicit operations in the remote working environment. This is a growing concern as remote work becomes more prevalent and physical infrastructure remains less monitored.