Data breach at Tesla affects 75k employees, traced back to insiders

Home > Industry Analysis > Content

【Summary】Tesla has admitted that a data breach affecting over 75,000 employees was carried out by insiders who leaked personal information to a foreign media outlet. The breach included personal data such as names, contact information, employment records, and Social Security numbers. Tesla has filed lawsuits against the former employees and obtained court orders to prevent further dissemination of the data.

FutureCar Staff Aug 25, 2023 4:51 PM PT

Data breach at Tesla affects 75k employees, traced back to insiders

Tesla, which is 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 disclosed in a data breach notice filed with the attorney general of Maine that an internal investigation revealed that two former employees had 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 certain current and former employees, such as their names, contact information (such as addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses), employment records, and Social Security numbers. A foreign media outlet named Handelsblatt informed Tesla on May 10, 2023, that it had obtained confidential information from the company.

Tesla assured that the media outlet has stated its intention not to publish the personal information and is legally prohibited from using it inappropriately. The company took immediate action to contain the incident, assess its extent, and safeguard the affected information.

Tesla filed lawsuits against the two former employees involved in the breach, leading to the seizure of their electronic devices, which were believed to contain Tesla information. Additionally, the company obtained court orders that prohibit the former employees from further using, accessing, or disseminating the data, with criminal penalties applicable.

In May, Handelsblatt reported a "massive" breach at Tesla, exposing various internal documents, including employees' personal information and customer complaints about their vehicles. The publication obtained more than 23,000 internal documents, collectively known as the "Tesla Files," which contained approximately 100 gigabytes of confidential data. The leak also reportedly included Elon Musk's Social Security number.