Physical security is obviously important, but in 2020, cybersecurity is equally important. A new plan to debunk Tesla’s cybersecurity has just been put to rest by the FBI, with the help of the employee involved.
A Tesla employee helped block a Russian cyber-attack on the EV company’s system, as reported Thursday by Teslarati. The Nevada Gigafactory employee, who happened to speak Russian, was approached virtually by Russian citizen Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, who revealed a scheme to install malware on Tesla’s system that would extract user data. Kriuchkov planned to payout $1 million USD to the Tesla employee for their help, then to hold the extracted data for ransom money.
When it came time to do their part, the Tesla employee defied the scheme and reported Kriuchkov, who Tesla would go on to report to the FBI. And according to the FBI, the scheme doesn’t stop with Kriuchkov.
Tesla employee foregoes $1M payment, works with FBI to thwart cybersecurity attack
A benefit of having trustworthy employees that are happy to work for @Tesla. Well done sir! Thank you for your work. https://t.co/L3UqI7dX9X $tsla
— Jim Hall (@jhall) August 27, 2020
After reporting the hacker, the Tesla employee was outfitted with a wire for all future meetings with Kriuchkov. In one particular meeting, Kriuchkov bragged about having recently won a ransom of $4.5 million USD from a different company, signifying that the scheme was of a much greater scale than was previously thought.
Ultimately, Kriuchkov tried to flee the US, failed, and was arrested by the FBI. While the plan was, seemingly, well thought out, honesty was the victor in this circumstance, and the news is likely to deter future attacks. Still, online scammers are getting smarter every year, so any company in the modern age must be vigilant to keep its systems secure and safe.
