Tesla data breach: 75,000 employees affected by insider scheme

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 names, contact information, employment records, and Social Security numbers. Tesla has filed lawsuits against the former employees and obtained court orders to prohibit further use of the data. The media outlet claims it will not publish the information.

FutureCar Staff Aug 21, 2023 9:15 AM PT

Tesla data breach: 75,000 employees affected by insider scheme

Tesla, the electric car maker led by Elon Musk, has confirmed that a data breach affecting over 75,000 employees was carried out by insiders within the company. The breach was discovered during an internal investigation, which revealed that two former employees had leaked personal information belonging to over 75,000 individuals to a foreign media outlet.

"The investigation found that these two former Tesla employees violated our IT security and data protection policies by misappropriating the information and sharing it with the media outlet," stated Steven Elentukh, Tesla's data privacy officer.

The leaked personal information included details about 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.

"The media outlet has assured us that they do not intend to publish the personal information and are legally prohibited from using it inappropriately. As soon as we were notified, Tesla took immediate action to contain the incident, assess the extent of the breach, and safeguard your information," said the company.

Tesla has filed lawsuits against the two former employees involved in the breach. As a result, the company has obtained court orders that prevent the former employees from further using, accessing, or distributing the data, with potential criminal penalties.

In May, Handelsblatt reported a "massive" breach at Tesla, revealing a wide range of information, including personal details of employees and customer complaints about their cars. The publication obtained more than 23,000 internal documents, known as the "Tesla Files," which contained 100 gigabytes of confidential data. It was also reported that Elon Musk's Social Security number was among the leaked information.