Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory was targeted in Russian hacking plot

[midian182]

What just happened? Tesla very nearly found itself at the mercy of a ransomware attack that would have cost it millions of dollars. The FBI claims that a Russian citizen was part of a group who attempted to plant malware in the system of a Nevada company since identified as the EV firm. They also attempted to rope a Tesla employee into the plot, but the worker ended up helping the authorities.

Earlier this week, the US Department of Justice announced charges against Russian national Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov. Court documents state that the 27-year-old contacted a Tesla employee, a Russian-speaking immigrant who he’d previously met in 2016, via WhatsApp. Kriuchkov claimed he was traveling to the US for a vacation, and the two arranged to meet in Reno.

The pair met on several occasions, during which Kriuchkov revealed that he was working with a Russian-based hacking group. He explained that they had created a piece of malware designed specifically for Tesla at a cost of $250,000 and wanted the employee to introduce it to the company’s internal network.

Much appreciated. This was a serious attack.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2020

Kriuchkov said the gang would launch a DDoS attack to disguise the malware’s data exfiltration and promised the employee $500,000 for his part, which they negotiated up to $1 million.

Unbeknown to Kriuchkov, the employee had informed Tesla of the plan, which in turn involved the FBI. The agency began a sting operation involving the worker wearing a wire and sharing text messages with Kriuchkov as they negotiated the deal.

Kriuchkov was arrested as he tried to leave the US via Los Angeles and charged on Monday. He faces up to five years behind bars if found guilty. While the Nevada company wasn’t named in the original documents, Elon Musk has confirmed it was Tesla.

Additionally, the FBI obtained information about other attacks previously carried out by the group. It didn’t confirm the companies targeted, but it’s thought the ransomware attack on CWT Group in July, which saw it pay $4.5 million to hackers, was the Russian gang's work.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/86550-tesla-nevada-gigafactory-targeted-russian-hacking-plot.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

#1. I would have demanded $10,000,000 in cash

#2. It’s scary to understand that there are disgruntled employees at just about any organization who would absolutely love to take A cash payment in order to wreck that organization. It’s even sadder to think that there are many of them who would do it for free because they hate that organization so much.

#3. It’s even scarier to think that there are governments large enough and powerful enough to identify that disgruntled employee and then get them enough money to get them to commit an act of cyber terrorism.

And this is the reason why none of our digital information is safe. The vast majority of the leaks and hacking is that occur or not happening remotely. They are coming from the inside of these organizations which claim that they will protect our information but ultimately can’t because bad players on the inside have access.

 

[franticfrosty]

Darn so it was North Korea who was at fault (jk)

I wonder if the employee got an award or anything lol thanks for not making us lose out on vital work & have to pay millions to some group.. heres $0 as a thanks

Does make you think who took the deal for the CWT Group and did they figure out who it was and how much they got paid

 

[Uncle Al]

You know, with Musk supposedly as smart as he claims, he should have been better prepared .....

 

[Lionvibez]

You know, with Musk supposedly as smart as he claims, he should have been better prepared .....

lmao how.

This can be done to any company on the planet if an employee plays along.

The amount of hate for Elon musk on this site is unreal.

 

[franticfrosty]

lmao how.

This can be done to any company on the planet if an employee plays along.

The amount of hate for Elon musk on this site is unreal.

Simple, If only he took the employee's brainwaves and saw what they were thinking and saying he could've easily have detected malicious intent and killed the employee and anyone involved really easily. But ya know, he's too weak for the North Korean regime decision making.

 

[EEatGDL]

The amount of hate for Elon musk on this site is unreal.

Yeah, that's why I haven't engaged in any Musk's companies-related comments here or basically any news' comments section. In spanish news the hate is even stronger and not worth my time.

 

[brucek]

Up to five years? The organization behind this guy can afford to make that worth his while and continue having no problem whatsoever recruiting more employees to take on his role in the meanwhile.

The penalty needs to be severe enough so that they can flip him to keep working up the chain.

 

[Endymio]

The penalty needs to be severe enough so that they can flip him to keep working up the chain.

The chain goes like this:

Him -> Someone who will never set foot in the US -> Someone else just like that.

Anyone else we indict is never going to be prosecuted.

 

[lipe123]

This Russian was willing to pay $1 000 000 US and the "sentence" is UP TO 5 years in prison?

What kind of joke is this?! He was caught red handed and should instead be sentenced to death by firing squad to set an example!

It seems like the US doesn't really get how serious Russian hacking can affect them. Maybe what should happen is Vladimir Putin should win the November election and maaaybe that would open people's eyes?

 

[Endymio]

This Russian was willing to pay $1 000 000 US and the "sentence" is UP TO 5 years in prison?
What kind of joke is this?! He was caught red handed and should instead be sentenced to death...

There's the little problem of the federal criminal code, which sets a maximum penalty for any specific crime.

 

[havok585]

This Russian was willing to pay $1 000 000 US and the "sentence" is UP TO 5 years in prison?

What kind of joke is this?! He was caught red handed and should instead be sentenced to death by firing squad to set an example!

It seems like the US doesn't really get how serious Russian hacking can affect them. Maybe what should happen is Vladimir Putin should win the November election and maaaybe that would open people's eyes?

You have no clue what you are talking about, and projecting out of your CNN induced fears.

The hacking group was responsible, where does the russian government comes into play ? that's just made up on the spot by you and others just to feed the "russians are gonna get us, cold war mentality" like always, when y'al gonna learn ? criminal organizations have existed since time immemorial, and they only exist to make money and nationality is irrelevant.
Any sane government would thwart their actions if they knew their plans. I trust more the FSB rather than the FBI, and this comes from a former soviet dominated era country resident.