Russian Accused of Tesla Hack Plot Pleads Guilty in Nevada

(Bloomberg) -- A Russian national charged with plotting a cyberattack on Tesla Inc. pleaded guilty.

Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, who was accused of trying to recruit an employee at a unidentified company to introduce malware in the electric car-maker’s computer system, admitted Thursday to conspiring to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer. He entered his plea during a video hearing in Nevada federal court.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk had tweeted in August, a few days after Kriuchkov’s arrest, that “this was a serious attack.”

Kriuchkov promised the employee he would get $1 million after the malware was introduced into the computer network, according to the Justice Department.

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