Tesla accuses former employee of hacking and transferring data

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Tesla Inc has sued a former employee claiming that he hacked the electric carmaker’s trade secrets and transferred large amounts of company data to third parties, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in the US state of Nevada on Wednesday.

In its lawsuit, Tesla claimed that Martin Tripp, who formerly worked at the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada, had admitted to writing software that hacked the carmaker’s manufacturing operating system, transferring several gigabytes of its data to third parties and making false claims to the media.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that Tripp made false claims about the information he stole, including claims that Tesla used punctured battery cells in the Model 3 electric car, and claims about the amount and value of scrap material generated by Tesla in the manufacturing process. Some of the claims made it into media stories about the company, but media organizations are not identified in the lawsuit.

Tripp was not immediately available for comment. His hacking software was operating on three separate computer systems of other individuals at Tesla so that the data would be exported even after he left the company and falsely implicate those individuals, according to the lawsuit.

"Within a few months of Tripp joining Tesla, his managers identified Tripp as having problems with job performance and at times being disruptive and combative with his colleagues," the lawsuit said.

"As a result of these and other issues, on or about May 17, 2018, Tripp was assigned to a new role. Tripp expressed anger that he was reassigned."

Earlier this week, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk told employees in an email that an unnamed Tesla employee had conducted "extensive and damaging sabotage" to the company's operations.

File photo shows Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk at a news conference in Chicago, US, June 14, 2018. /VCG Photo

"The full extent of his actions are not yet clear, but what he has admitted to so far is pretty bad," Musk wrote without specifying whom he was referring to.

A Tesla spokesperson had no additional comment.

Tesla wants monetary damages and an order to prevent Tripp from obtaining or disclosing information. It also seeks a court order to inspect his computers, electronic storage devices, email accounts and external storage accounts.

(Top image: A sign is seen outside Tesla Motors' new showroom in Manhattan's Meatpacking District in New York City, US, December 14, 2017. /Reuters Photo)

Source(s): AP ,Reuters