Tesla has notified over 75,000 current and former employees that their personal information was stolen in an insider data breach. The breach occurred on May 10, and the company was notified by the German media group Handelsblatt, which had obtained a copy of the stolen information.
Tesla’s investigation found that two former employees had “misappropriated the information in violation of the manufacturer’s IT security and data protection policies and shared it with the media outlet.” The stolen information included contact information such as address, phone number, and email address.
Tesla has sued the former employees and obtained court orders that prohibit them from further using or disseminating the data. The company is also offering credit monitoring support to the victims.
The scope of the breach extends to 75,735 individuals, according to a statement to the Maine state authorities, while Tesla’s official website indicates an employee count of over 100,000. Although, neither the location of the data theft nor the reason behind the German media group’s involvement was disclosed in the official communication.
Tesla says it is collaborating with law enforcement agencies and external forensics experts on the matter.
The sources for this piece include an article in ITWorldCanada.