Russian Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Introduce Malware Into Tesla’s Computer Network
Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster, with Earth in background. “Starman” mannequin wearing SpaceX Spacesuit in driving seat. Photo by SpaceX, via Wikimedia Commons.
This article was originally published March 19, 2021, by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
A Russian citizen who was arrested in the United States last summer has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to introduce malware into the computer network of automaker Tesla.
The U.S. Justice Department said on March 18 that Yegor Kryuchkov pleaded guilty in federal court “for conspiring to travel to the United States to recruit an employee of a Nevada company into a scheme to introduce malicious software into the company’s computer network.”
According to the statement, in the summer of 2020, the 27-year-old Kryuchkov and his accomplices tried to bribe a company employee, offering him $1 million to install malicious software to get access to the firm’s network so that Kryuchkov could extort cash from Tesla by threatening to make the stolen data public.
The statement does not mention the name of the company targeted by Kryuchkov, but Tesla founder Elon Musk said ealier that it was his company that the man and his accomplices tried to attack.
“[Kryuchkov] pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and is scheduled to be sentenced May 10,” the Justice Department’s statement said.
“The swift response of the company and the FBI prevented a major exfiltration of the victim company’s data and stopped the extortion scheme at its inception,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said. “This case highlights the importance of companies coming forward to law enforcement, and the positive results when they do so.”
Kryuchkov was arrested on August 22 in Los Angeles. Initially, he had entered a plea of not guilty.
Copyright (c)2021 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Coffee or Die is Black Rifle Coffee Company’s online lifestyle magazine. Launched in June 2018, the magazine covers a variety of topics that generally focus on the people, places, or things that are interesting, entertaining, or informative to America’s coffee drinkers — often going to dangerous or austere locations to report those stories.
Ohio lawmakers pitch their state as the new location for Space Command headquarters.
In 2014, Soflete’s co-founders saw workout overkill hurting their peers as they prepared for selecti...
Get to know the Glock 19 — how it works, who uses it, and why it’s one of the most popular handguns in the US.
Afghan soldier who assisted the U.S. now faces uncertainty in bid for asylum.
The Dirty Dozen was based on a real team of rule-breaking elite paratroopers who jumped into France ahead of D-Day.
This year's D-Day tribute to the young soldiers who died in Normandy is not only a chance to honor t...
The F-22 Raptor was designed to fight next-gen Russian fighters. So far its only air-to-air kills are a Chinese balloon and a UFO.
The US Navy outwitted and outfought the Imperial Japanese Navy to secure victory in the do-or-die Battle of Midway.
