Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Thursday that his electric vehicle company was the target of a "serious" cyberattack. He revealed that Tesla's factory in Nevada was the main target of an attempted online attack where a hacker tried to take over the facility's network by installing a malware program on its computer systems.
Musk posted a tweet on Thursday confirming the attack in response to published reports revealing that an employee at Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory had helped the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) thwart an attempted cyberattack. In his tweet, Musk confirmed that the attempted hacking was a "serious attack."
According to reports, a Russian man was arrested on August 22 over his alleged attempt to bribe a Tesla employee in order to get a malware program installed on the facility's systems. The man, 27-year old Russian national Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, allegedly planned to use the malware program to encrypt Tesla's files. These types of programs are typically used by hackers to extract ransom money from victims in exchange for access to their own files.
The U.S. Justice Department initially released a statement on Tuesday that it had thwarted an attempted hacking attack at an unidentified company. The agency revealed that it had arrested a Russian national involved in the attempted digital attack. In its initial statement, the Justice Department did not outright name Tesla in any of its filings. It only stated that the attack was against a company located in Sparks, Nevada. Tesla currently has a factory in the area that produces electric motors and battery packs.
It was later revealed that the perpetrator had attempted to pay a Tesla employee $1 million to install a specific malware program into the Gigafactory's computer network. The employee, whose name was not disclosed, reportedly spoke Russian and had access to the facility's computer networks. After Kriuchkov made his offer, the Tesla employee immediately approached the company and informed it of the situation. Tesla then informed the FBI, which then launched an investigation. The FBI reportedly asked the employee to take part in a sting operation to capture Kruichkov.
The number of online hacking attempts and Cyberattacks on major companies around the world has increased since the start of the year. As more companies shift their businesses online, traditional criminals have also followed suit. Major firms such as Honda and Twitter, along with government systems, have become popular targets of these attacks.
