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Russian national in US pleads guilty of conspiracy to hack into Tesla systems

Egor Kriuchkov will hear his verdict on May 10

NEW YORK, March 19. /TASS/. Russian national Egor Kriuchkov who has pleaded guilty of conspiracy to hack into Tesla computer networks will hear his verdict on May 10, the Nevada attorney’s office revealed in a statement Thursday.

"A Russian national pleaded guilty in federal court today 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," the statement reads, noting that Kriuchkov "pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and is scheduled to be sentenced May 10."

According to the investigation, the Russian planned "to exfiltrate data from the company’s computer network and then extort the company by threatening to disclose the data." The employee who was allegedly contacted by the Russian national in summer 2020 notified his superiors about this plan, who later reported it to the FBI.

The US Justice Department reported that Kriuchkov was detained in Los Angeles, California in August on the count of deliberate attempt to cause damage to a protected computer. He allegedly tried to bribe an employee of an unnamed company in Nevada to install malicious software in its computer systems.

The name of the company was not disclosed. However, Tesla head Elon Musk earlier noted that it concerned his company.