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.<\/p>\n
Confirmed by Musk in a tweet<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Much appreciated. This was a serious attack.<\/p>\n — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n