Tesla Employee Assists FBI to Disrupt Russian-Born Criminal Suspect

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A Tesla employee assists FBI to catch a criminal who was planning to carry out a ransomware attack on the company. According to the documents reviewed, news outlets suggest that Tesla was the victim.

The arrested Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, came into contact with an employee at Tesla's Gigafactory 1 in Sparks, Nevada. His goal was to make friends with Tesla employee (Confidential Human Source [CHS1]), who would later introduce malware into Tesla's network, for a fee.

According to a complaint shared by the Department of Justice, Kryuchkov traveled to the United States in July and contacted CHS1. After the meeting, Kryuchkov proposed a deal, according to which CHS1 was to receive $1 million for the introduction of malware for Tesla Gigafactory's computer systems, according to Dive Tesla Canada. On August 19, CHS1 received an advance of $11,000.

Image credit: Felix Mizioznikov / Shutterstock.com

At first, the malware would appear as a DDoS attack, which would occupy IT security, concealing the real attack which would download data from the network. The group would then threaten to make the information public, unless a large ransom was paid.

 
After Kryuchkov made an offer to CHS1, the latter immediately informed Tesla. The company contacted the FBI, which launched a special operation. Agents arrested Kryuchkov in Los Angeles on August 22 when he tried to leave the United States.

During the special operation, FBI agents received information about previous attacks by Kryuchkov's associates. They did not say which companies were affected. Thanks to Tesla's employee, the actions of the criminal organization were stopped and the guilty ones will be punished.

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