Tesla takes former staff to court over 26,000 confidential files theft

A top tech company, Tesla, has sued a former employee over data theft. The individual is charged for downloading company files illegally.

Tesla takes ex-staff to court over data theft

Tech giant, Tesla has taken an ex-staff for allegedly taking confidential files unlawfully for a few weeks of employment. The tech firm stated that within a week of working as an engineer in their technical department, Alex Khatilov stole a plethora of scripts that took the firm years to create and develop.

These files were stored in a Dropbox, however, it seems this software engineer found an algorithm key which he used to transfer the files to his possession. Tesla stated that when he was asked about this illegal act by their security officers, Alex said he just transferred a few personal administrative files.

Alex Khatilov said the documents got to his Dropbox account by an error when he was trying to duplicate some important files on his system. Tesla stated that these important files were over 200 years of hard work by the company and very crucial to their establishments. The files contact new models and innovations that are essential to both Tesla and rival firms.

Tesla security team detected the theft

It also said about 50 of the Khabilov team made up 60,000 employees that could access the files but have no hand in its development. Tesla’s state-of-the-art security support detected this download around January 7 and called him. Immediately, since he was working remotely at home.

During the call, Tesla said Khatilov didn’t allow the security team to view his screen as he quickly tried to delete the files from his systems. Unfortunately for Alex Khatilov, some parts of the document are still visible on his Dropbox account, before it could be removed permanently.

Khatilov said he wasn’t aware he was being charged in court until the press called him, and he received a termination mail that morning. He said he was shocked by the actions of Tesla, and he didn’t lie when he was confronted.