Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, a Russian visiting the US on a tourist visa, has been arrested by the FBI after offering a Tesla Gigafactory worker US$1m to install malware in the company’s systems.
Confirmed by Musk in a tweet yesterday, the accused approached a Russian speaking non-US citizen that works as Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada with an initial offer of US$500k to plant the malware.
The employee took the offer to the authorities however, who looped in the FBI and ran an ongoing operation that recorded Kriuchkov increasing his initial offer to US$1m and paying a deposit to the employee of US$11k.
The malware was supposedly designed to allow the hacker group access into Tesla’s corporate network and hold the company ransom, likely through some crypto-locker or extortion.
It all turned south however when the FBI closed in and tailed Kriuchkov as he attempted to flee the country before being arrested at Los Angeles airport.
Much appreciated. This was a serious attack.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2020