FBI accuses former Tesla employee of stealing employee evaluations and distributing

[yobigd20]

well this is interesting:

thats not cool

 

[Lump]

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A former Tesla Motors engineer has been charged in federal court with felony computer intrusion for allegedly accessing his manager's email account, sharing employee evaluations with others and posting confidential information on the Web.


Nima Kalbasi, a 28-year-old Canadian, then "tried to harm Tesla's reputation and credibility by making false and misleading comments," the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement on Thursday.Kalbasi, who had worked as a mechanical engineer for the electric vehicle maker, which is based in Palo Alto, California, was arrested in Vermont on Aug. 24. He appeared in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, on Aug. 27, the FBI said.
A lawyer for Kalbasi declined comment.
If convicted, Kalbasi faces a maximum of five years in prison for two felony counts of computer intrusion and one year for a count of misdemeanor computer intrusion.
Tesla could not be immediately reached for comment.

 

[Johan]

 

[yobigd20]

more details here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/us-tesla-motors-hacking-employee-idUSKCN0R32AS20150903?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews but really nothing newsworthy IMO. i thought there could be some gushy details but turns out just some idiot doing dumb stufff.

 

[MsElectric]

Is that Eds?

 

[hockeythug]

Guy was posting comments under his own name from a quick google search.

http://www.techspot.com/community/t...ith-motor-trends-car-of-the-year-award.187164

 

[anticitizen13.7]

Is that Eds?

That was exactly my thought when I saw this stuff show up in my News Feed. It was way too coincidental.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Here's a better article that adds much more information to the story. He was employed by Tesla for about a year, then fired, then he hacked info from Tesla, hence the criminal complaint.

Ex-Tesla engineer could face prison for hacking former manager's email, FBI says | PCWorld

 

[cpa]

Is that Eds?

What does this mean, exactly, please?

 

[anticitizen13.7]

What does this mean, exactly, please?

Eds was a forum member here at TMC. In mid-July, Eds started a thread (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/50173-Delay-in-model-X-launch) in the Model X forum, basically stating that there were severe problems with getting components for Model X, that Model X would ship in extremely low quantities this year, that initial vehicles would be of inferior quality, and that Elon was lying to shareholders on the timetable for Model X.

Soon after, Tesla's legal department demanded that TMC delete Eds' post, and then Eds requested that the info be taken down. Eds' posts and allegations were subsequently deleted.

Given that this alleged "hacker" who is said to have stolen secrets from Tesla is a mechanical engineer, it makes sense if he was pist off that he would make bad comments about parts availability and overall vehicle quality.

This is all speculation of course that the "hacker" is Eds, but the facts plausibly fit together.

 

[yobigd20]

FBI Former Tesla Engineer Charged with Computer Intrusion

Nima Kalbasi, a 28-year-old Canadian citizen, appeared in U.S. District Court on August 27, 2015, after being arrested on an indictment for two counts of felony computer intrusion, and one count of misdemeanor computer intrusion.


According to the indictment, Kalbasi, a former mechanical engineer for Tesla Motors—an electric automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Palo Alto, California—allegedly gained unauthorized access to his former manager’s Tesla Motors e-mail account and obtained communications involving employee evaluations and other confidential information. Subsequent to obtaining this information, Kalbasi released the employee evaluations to other Tesla Motors employees and posted the confidential information on a public website. Once posted, Kalbasi then tried to harm Tesla’s reputation and credibility by making false and misleading comments.


On August 24, 2015, Kalbasi was arrested in Derby Line, Vermont by Customs and Border Protection as he crossed the border into the United States. Following his arrest, Kalbasi made his initial appearance in federal court in San Jose on August 27, 2015, before Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal.


If convicted, Kalbasi faces—in part—a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the felony charges and one year in prison for the misdemeanor charge. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence.


The case is being prosecuted by the Computer Hacking/Intellectual Property Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Jose.

 

[Vitold]

Eds was a forum member here at TMC. In mid-July, Eds started a thread (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/50173-Delay-in-model-X-launch) in the Model X forum, basically stating that there were severe problems with getting components for Model X, that Model X would ship in extremely low quantities this year, that initial vehicles would be of inferior quality, and that Elon was lying to shareholders on the timetable for Model X.

Soon after, Tesla's legal department demanded that TMC delete Eds' post, and then Eds requested that the info be taken down. Eds' posts and allegations were subsequently deleted.

Given that this alleged "hacker" who is said to have stolen secrets from Tesla is a mechanical engineer, it makes sense if he was pist off that he would make bad comments about parts availability and overall vehicle quality.

This is all speculation of course that the "hacker" is Eds, but the facts plausibly fit together.

If Eds allegations are true it would be mistake for Tesla to publicize his revelations (Streisand Effect) by suing him/her. If Tesla deals with Eds it will not be publicized and preferably after Model X launch.