Tesla's massive data breach that could affect more than 75,000 people is believed to have been a result of what officials call "insider wrongdoing" and includes information such as employee records.
The announcement was made by the office of the Maine Attorney General on Friday as nine residents affected were from the state. The victims appeared to have been either current or former employees of the Austin, Texas-based automaker.
Tesla Data Breach
In a letter released on Aug. 18, Tesla said that a foreign media outlet, known as Handelsblatt, informed the company that it was able to obtain confidential information. It added that the investigation into the matter revealed that two previous employees misappropriated the information in violation of the company's IT security and data protection policies.
The company added that it has already filed lawsuits against the two former employees but has not specified in which jurisdiction. The lawsuits resulted in the seizure of electronic devices that were thought to have contained company information, as per Bloomberg.
The letter also said that the electric vehicle manufacturer was able to obtain court orders that prohibit the former employees from "further use, access, or dissemination of the data, subject to criminal penalties."
The company's data privacy officer, Steven Elentukh, did not immediately respond to an email on Sunday requesting for comment regarding the situation. Handelsblatt is a German publication that revealed the news about the data breach in May.
The media outlet said that it spent several months examining and reviewing the data that it acquired, which included more than 23,000 files from 2015 to 2022. The so-called "Tesla files" had 100 gigabytes of confidential data and had employees' names and contact information, such as their addresses, mobile numbers, and email addresses.
Additionally, the data breach included roughly 2,400 customer complaints regarding the company's vehicles suddenly accelerating. There were another 1,500 complaints that pointed out the cars' braking issues, which include 383 instances of "phantom braking," according to Business Insider.
Series of Complaints
The situation comes as Tesla is still under pressure following a report that the electric vehicle manufacturer misled its consumers regarding the battery range of its products. Furthermore, they are allegations that the company created what is called a "Diversion Team" that would be responsible for dealing with customers who complained about the issue.
Customers have long been plagued by what is commonly referred to as "range anxiety," which is the fear that your electric vehicle could run out of battery in between charging stations and leave you stranded.
To address the issue, manufacturers developed efficient and reliable batteries that are capable of storing hundreds of miles worth of charge. However, Tesla allegedly went beyond and advertised range estimates that were not based on facts.
The report noted that "a person familiar with an early design" of the software of Tesla cars said that it showed "rosy" projections for how far the vehicle is actually able to run while on a full battery. But after it fell below 50% charge, the projection would switch to a realistic number to avoid leaving drivers stranded somewhere, said Yahoo News.