Tesla data breach: 75,000 employees affected by internal breach

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【Summary】Tesla admits data breach by insiders; former employees leaked personal information of 75,000 employees to media outlet Handelsblatt; Tesla filed lawsuits and obtained court orders to prevent further use of the data.

FutureCar Staff Aug 24, 2023 9:29 AM PT

Tesla data breach: 75,000 employees affected by internal breach

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 disclosed in a data breach notice submitted to the attorney general of Maine that an internal investigation uncovered 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 details of certain current and former employees, such as their names, contact information (such as address, phone number, and email address), employment-related records, and Social Security numbers. A foreign media outlet called Handelsblatt informed Tesla on May 10, 2023, that it had obtained confidential information related to Tesla.

Tesla assured that the media outlet has confirmed it has no intention of publishing 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 individuals' information.

Tesla identified the two former employees responsible for the data breach and initiated legal proceedings against them. As a result, the company seized their electronic devices, which were believed to contain Tesla's confidential information. Additionally, Tesla obtained court orders that prevent 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 various internal documents, including employees' personal information and customer complaints about their cars. The publication obtained more than 23,000 internal documents, collectively known as the "Tesla Files," which contained around 100 gigabytes of confidential data. It was also revealed that Elon Musk's Social Security number was among the leaked information.