Tesla Sues Former Employee for $1 Million for Hacking Confidential Information

Tesla Sues Former Employee for $1 Million for Hacking Confidential Information

Electric carmaker Tesla is suing an ex-employee, accusing him of sabotaging the electric carmaker’s business by allegedly stealing “several gigabytes” of confidential data.

Former Tesla employee Martin Tripp, a technician at the company’s Nevada factory has been alleged to have stolen the confidential data and handing it over to unknown third parties, according to a lawsuit filed by Tesla on Wednesday.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted at corporate sabotage in an email to company staff earlier in the week, stating that a “long list of organizations” wished Tesla to meet a demise.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Musk said: “There is more, but the actions of a few bad apples will not stop Tesla from reaching its goals. With 40,000 people, the worst one in 1000 will have issues. That’s still ~40 people.”

The complaint also claims that Tripp confessed when confronted by Tesla investigators last week with evidence of his purported misconduct that included hacking computers to export confidential data off-site.

“During the interview, Tripp also admitted that he attempted to recruit additional sources inside the Gigafactory to share confidential Tesla data outside the company,” an excerpt from the lawsuit read.

Tesla claims Tripp became disgruntled with his job, leading him to allegedly stealing dozens of photos of Tesla’s manufacturing systems.

In retaliation, Tripp told the Washington Post that he spoke out after spotting “some really scary things” inside the company, outing himself as a whistle-blower. He also claimed he did not hack into Tesla’s computers, stating he didn’t “have the patience for coding.”

Tripp has since said he is seeking legal representation and official protection as a whistle-blower.

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