--- title: "FBI Reportedly Foils Russian Hack at Tesla Factory" description: "The FBI helped foil a plot by Russian hackers to target Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory with a massive insider ransomware hack." date: "2020-08-27" modified: "2020-08-28" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/fbi-foils-russian-hack-at-tesla-factory" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "elon musk" - "hacking" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # FBI Reportedly Foils Russian Hack at Tesla Factory ![The FBI helped foil a plot by Russian hackers to target Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory with a massive insider ransomware hack.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Factory Reset The sharp-eyed blooggers at [*Electrek* spotted]() an [FBI complaint]() detailing how the feds helped foil a plot by Russian hackers to target Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory with a massive ransomware hack and data breach. "Much appreciated," Musk [tweeted in response]() to a story about the attempted hack. "This was a serious attack." ## Wheel Money According to the complaint, a 27-year-old Russian hacker named Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov traveled to the United States this summer, where he sought out an anonymous Tesla employee who spoke Russian. After socializing with the unnamed employee, Kriuchkov made an eyebrow-raising offer — saying he'd pay the insider $1 million to introduce malware into the company's internal computer systems. ## Hack at It The employee, though, didn't take the bait. Instead, according to the FBI, he notified his employer, which looped in the FBI. Then the FBI helped set up a sting operation in which the employee recorded communications and other evidence. Interestingly — because Tesla founder Elon Musk is a known [aficionado of video games]() — the FBI complaint contains a possible Easter Egg: during communications with the hacker, the unnamed Tesla employee asked Kriuchkov to use the codename "DeadSpace22." *Editor's note: A reader pointed out that, although Electrek is reporting that the company referenced in the FBI complaint is Tesla, the complaint itself never names the company. We've updated the post to reflect that ambiguity and reached out to Tesla for additional comment. Then Elon Musk confirmed that the attack was directed at Tesla, so we updated again.* **READ MORE:** [Tesla and FBI prevented $1 million ransomware hack at Gigafactory Nevada]() \[*Electrek*\] **More on Tesla:** [*Tesla Driver, Watching Movie on Autopilot, Slams Into Police Cars*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()