Tesla designs and manufactures several EV products, but what sets it apart from others is its cars, which are feature loaded. Among its exceptional characteristics, Tesla offers outstanding quality in its “Auto Pilot” mode car models.
This feature enables a Tesla Car to auto-drive itself without any human intervention. However, with such magnificent engineering, Tesla is not entirely perfect.
Recently, Tesla reported a data breach that exposed more than 75,000 users’ information. But, It has been confirmed that this exposure is not a data breach but results from “insider wrongdoing.”
Tesla’s Data Breach
Earlier in May, a report submitted to Cyber Security News unveiled a significant Tesla breach in which the following types of data were exposed:
- Present employee data
- Former employee data
- Customer data
- Complaints from customers
- Complaints about cars
- Social security numbers
A German media outlet, Handelsblatt, noted that the world’s largest EV carmaker hit $1.2 trillion in November 2021. However, this value is below half, an unusual market loss in record time.
While it seems that numerous lawsuits over its driver assistance systems have crashed its market valuation and reputation.
Even such a rapid stream of lawsuits over Tesla attracted the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is now closely monitoring and investigating all the events.
Handelsblatt told Tesla on May 10, 2023, that they got confidential data from two ex-employees who violated the policies of the company, and the media outlet also affirmed to Tesla that it wouldn’t publish personal information due to legal restrictions.
Breach Information
- Entity Name: Tesla, Inc.
- Reporting: Steven Elentukh (Data Privacy Officer)
- Total number of persons affected (including residents): 75,735
- Total number of Maine residents affected: 9
- If the number of Maine residents exceeds 1,000, have the consumer reporting agencies been notified: No
- Date(s) Breach Occurred: 05/10/2023
- Data Breach Discovered: 05/10/2023
You can learn about the breach details here.
Here’s what Tesla’s Data Privacy Officer stated on behalf of Tesla:
“Tesla immediately took steps to contain the incident, understand its scope, and protect your information. Among other things, we identified and filed lawsuits against the two former employees. These lawsuits resulted in the seizure of the former employees’ electronic devices that were believed to have contained Tesla’s information. “
“Tesla also obtained court orders prohibiting former employees from further using, accessing, or disseminating the data, subject to criminal penalties. Tesla cooperated with law enforcement and external forensics experts and will continue to take appropriate steps as necessary.”
Since Tesla takes data privacy and security seriously, for any further queries or inquiries, Tesla provides a toll-free number, “800-607-1589,” through which users can reach Tesla via telephone or mobile phone.
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