Data breach at Tesla: 75,000 employees affected by internal source

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【Summary】Tesla has admitted that a data breach affecting 75,000 employees was carried out by insiders. Two former employees leaked personal information, including contact details and Social Security numbers, to a foreign media outlet. Tesla has taken legal action and obtained court orders to prevent further use or dissemination of the data. The media outlet claims it will not publish the information. The breach also included confidential documents and even Elon Musk's Social Security number.

FutureCar Staff Aug 26, 2023 9:50 AM PT

Data breach at Tesla: 75,000 employees affected by internal source

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, has acknowledged that a data breach affecting over 75,000 employees was carried out by insiders within the company. The electric car manufacturer revealed in a data breach notice filed with the attorney general of Maine that an internal investigation uncovered the actions of two former employees who leaked personal information of more than 75,000 individuals to a foreign media outlet.

Steven Elentukh, Tesla's data privacy officer, stated, "The investigation revealed that two former Tesla employees misappropriated the information in violation of Tesla's IT security and data protection policies and shared it with the media outlet."

The leaked personal information included data related to current and former employees, such as names, contact information (including addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses), employment records, and Social Security numbers of 75,735 individuals.

Tesla received notification from the foreign media outlet, Handelsblatt, on May 10, 2023, informing them that they had obtained confidential Tesla information. The company stated, "The outlet has stated that it does not intend to publish the personal information, and in any event, is legally prohibited from using it inappropriately. Tesla immediately took steps to contain the incident, understand the scope, and protect your information."

Tesla took legal action against the two former employees and succeeded in seizing their electronic devices, which were believed to contain Tesla information. The company also obtained court orders that prohibit the former employees from further using, accessing, or disseminating the data, with potential criminal penalties.

In May, Handelsblatt reported a "massive" breach at Tesla, exposing personal information of employees as well as customer complaints about their cars. The publication obtained over 23,000 internal documents, known as the "Tesla Files," containing 100 gigabytes of confidential data. The leak also included Elon Musk's Social Security number.