Tesla has worked with the FBI to prevent a group of hackers from attacking Tesla's Gigafactory Factory in Nevada.
The FBI released information this week about the arrest of Igor Igorevich Kryuchkov, a 27-year-old Russian citizen who is alleged to be part of a group that attempted to extort millions of dollars from Tesla Corporation in Nevada.
According to the complaint, Kryuchkov traveled to the United States last July on a tourist visa, and made contact with a Russian-speaking employee at the Tesla Factory in Nevada.
The accused met the employee several times before making an offer to pay him money in exchange for his help in introducing malware into Tesla's internal computer system in order to extract company data and influence Tesla's operations.
Kryuchkov claimed that he was representing a group that would then arrange a ransom with Tesla in order not to divulge information and stop influencing its operations.
The employee did not refuse, but immediately informed Tesla, who in turn notified the FBI.
The FBI launched a major operation with the employee who wore a bugging device and shared text communications with Kryuchkov as they negotiated the terms of this malware attack.
The employee and Kryuchkov met several times throughout August to plan the attack and make payments to the employee.
Interestingly, by cooperating with a Tesla employee, the FBI was able to obtain information about past attacks from this group.
Kryuchkov and another Russian-speaking person who was not named in the complaint agreed to pay the employee $ 1 million to deliver the malware onto Tesla's computer.
The accused collaborated with the FBI not only to help prevent the attack on Tesla, but also to learn more about the group.
Elon Musk, CEO and founder of Tesla, acknowledged the attempted hack, in a tweet on his Twitter account, describing it as a dangerous attack and thanking employees:
Much appreciated. This was a serious attack.
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2020