After two insiders’ disclosure of material obtained from its internal systems to a German newspaper, Tesla has disclosed a data breach in the United States that affects more than 75,000 present and former workers.
Tesla accused “insider wrongdoing” for the breach, which involved the theft of personal information and Social Security numbers, in a letter to current and former employees that was also forwarded to the Attorney General’s office in Maine.
The automaker stated: “Tesla was told on May 10, 2023, by a foreign media organization (called Handelsblatt) that it had obtained sensitive Tesla information.”
The company’s internal investigation, according to the letter, “found that two former Tesla employees misappropriated the information in breach of Tesla’s IT security and data protection regulations and shared it with the media outlet.”
Tesla Data Breach Blamed
The publication inform Tesla that “it does not inten to publish the personal information and, in any case, is legally ban from utilizing it irresponsibly,” according to Tesla.
German business publication The Handelsblatt said in May that it had obtained 100 gigabytes of data from Tesla insiders.
The documents indicated concerns about the technological difficulties facing the manufacturer’s automated driving systems. They were release in the context of US authorities’ investigations into the company’s self-driving software.
Thousands of consumer complaints about Tesla’s self-driving features, including accounts of cars braking or accelerating abruptly without driver input, were among the data sent to the publication.
The newspaper claimed it received a demand from Tesla to remove the “stolen data” when it emailed the automaker with queries regarding the data it had obtained, including inquiries regarding the company’s protocols to prevent accident data from being shared with customers.
In a letter to the attorney general of Maine, Tesla stated.
“Among other things, we identified and pursued legal action against the two ex-employees. Electronic devices belonging to the former employees that were thought to have contain information about Tesla were seized as a result of these cases.
It’s unclear what is happening with these lawsuits right now. More than 75,000 persons were affected by the Tesla Inc. data breach in May, which also involved employee records and was the result of “insider malfeasance,” according to a notice publish by the Maine Attorney General’s office on Friday.
Almost 75,000 employees of the corporation were impact by a data breach, according to Tesla, which claimed insider malfeasance was to blame.
Tesla, the Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle manufacturer.
Reported a data breach to the attorney general of Maine after discovering that two former employees had exposed more than 75,000 people’s personal information to a foreign media outlet.
Tesla’s data privacy officer, Steven Elentukh, stated in the notice that the inquiry “found that two former Tesla employees. Misappropriated the material in breach of Tesla’s IT security and data protection regulations and shared it with the media outlet.”
This data contains personally identifying information for 75,735 current and past employees. Such as names, addresses, phone numbers, employment-related records, and Social Security numbers.
According to Tesla, two former workers gave the information to the German daily Handelsblatt. According to the notice, the outlet reassured Tesla. That it would not disclose the information and that it was “legally forbidden from using it irresponsibly.”
Tesla Data Breach Blamed
In May, Handelsblatt claimed that Tesla had experienced a “major”. Breach that had exposed everything from the personal information of staff to customer complaints about their vehicles.
The “Tesla Files,” or more than 23,000 internal documents with 100 gigabytes of sensitive information, were obtain by the publication. These includes details regarding employees’ financial accounts, trade secrets for manufacturing, and customer complaints about Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) features.
According to Handelsblatt, the hack also contained Musk’s Social Security number.
Tesla filed litigation against the workers who were allegedly in charge of the data breach. Which led to the confiscation of the workers’ electronic equipment.
Tesla said it also got court orders preventing the former workers from using the data. Gaining access to it in the future, subject to criminal consequences.
After Reuters revealed in April that Tesla employees had shared private photographs captured by customer cars, this occurrence occurred.
Tesla Data Breach Blamed
Employees allegedly shared “invasive” pictures and videos taken by automobile cameras between 2019 and 2022.
Roughly 75,000 people may have had their personal information leaked as a result of the hack. Names, addresses, contact information, and even financial information are among the data that have been reveale.
Although Tesla has inform customers that no intellectual property or proprietary car technology was compromise.
The hack nonetheless raises worries about the possible abuse of personal information for fraudulent or identity-theft-related activities.
