Ride the Lightning

Tesla Sues Former Employee for Stealing 26,000 Files

January 27, 2021

IndustryWeek reported on January 25 that Tesla has sued a former employee for allegedly stealing approximately 26,000 confidential files – and get this – in his first week on the job.

Tesla said that, within three days of being hired, software engineer Alex Khatilov "brazenly stole thousands of trade computer scripts that took Tesla years to develop" and transferred them to his personal Dropbox.

Tesla said that when confronted by Tesla's security team, Khatilov claimed he had only transferred "a couple of personal administrative documents", while trying to delete the evidence.

Khatilov told the New York Post the software files ended up in his Dropbox in error while he tried to make a backup copy of a folder on his computer.

Tesla said the files, which represented "200 man-years of work", were extremely valuable to both the company and its competitors, as they could provide "a roadmap to copy Tesla's innovation." Tesla also said that only 40 out of 50,000 employees, including Khatilov's team, had access to the scripts, but they "had nothing to do with his responsibilities."

Tesla's security team detected the file downloads on January 6, after Khatilov was hired on December 28, and confronted him via videocall as he was working from home, according to the court filing.

Tesla said during this call, Khatilov delayed sharing his screen with the team, during which time "he could be seen on videochat hurriedly deleting information from his computer."

Ah, the evidentiary possibilities of videochat!

Investigators were still able to view thousands of confidential files uploaded to his Dropbox, which Khatilov "claimed he somehow 'forgot.'" He was fired the same day.

I think he's going to need a better story . . .

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225|Fairfax, VA 22030
Email: Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
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