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Elon Musk Confirms Russian Bitcoin Ransomware Attack Targeting Tesla, FBI to the Rescue

Elon Musk has confirmed that Tesla was recently targeted in a ransomware attack set to extort $1 million in Bitcoin from the car manufacturing giant.

Ransomware Attack on Tesla

A Russian national reached out to a Tesla employee from the manufacturing factory in Nevada and enticed him to install ransomware malware onto Tesla’s computer network. The Russian scam artist offered the employee $1 million and an upfront payment of 1 Bitcoin (BTC) in exchange for uploading the software.

Rather than accepting the bribe, the employee called the FBI. Upon investigation, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a 27-year-old Russian, Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, who was at the basis of the ransomware attempt. Kriuchkov was apprehended in Los Angeles on August 22 and is currently facing up to 5 years in prison for the ransomware scheme, if found guilty.

As shared by Forbes, Bitcoin is highly favored as a payment method by cybercriminals, with the digital asset’s rising value on the market and its increasing popularity as a hedge among investors. Over the past 6 years, ransomware attacks by cyber schemers have generated over $140 million worth of Bitcoin, according to the FBI.

Speaking about the Bitcoin extortion attempt targeting his company, CEO Elon Musk said that it was a serious attack, after having suffered from a previous Bitcoin Twitter hack that overtook his social media platform as well as that of other tech moguls and big-name figures. The Bitcoin ransomware attempt comes at a time when Tesla stock is surging on the market, boasting of a market capitalization of approximately $465 billion after an announced 5-for-1 stock split that quadrupled Elon Musk’s wealth.

Overtaking Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the SpaceX founder now figures among the top 3 wealthiest people in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Gold or Bitcoin as Hedge?

Elon Musk has also been working on a plan to mine gold from asteroids and is to launch a mission with his company SpaceX, as disclosed by NASA.

In parallel to this, Bitcoin billionaire Tyler Winklevoss has continued educating investors on the benefits of investing in BTC rather than gold or USD, due to the digital asset’s protective nature against inflation.

Bitcoin, often dubbed “digital gold” by avid investors, has a limited maximum supply of 21 million, and according to Winklevoss’ predictions, Bitcoin’s value will continue escalating, with the US dollar plummeting and gold’s actual global supply being unknown.

With the cryptocurrency having a maximum cap of 21 million coins in the world, Winklevoss has therefore touted BTC as the best hedge against inflation.

European Union Parliament Considers Petition for Crypto Fraud Victims Fund

The European Union (EU) Parliament is considering a petition filed by a consortium of individuals, organizations and companies that seeks to establish a restitution fund for victims of crypto fraud.

The EU Parliament has announced that they are considering a petition submitted by a consortium of crypto fraud victims. The objective of the petition is to seek for the establishment of a restitution fund for victims of crypto fraud.

The victims represented by their lawyer, Dr. Jonathan Levy, have suffered losses exceeding €40 million and like tens of thousands of other crypto crime victims worldwide have been unable to recover their funds through law enforcement, national regulatory authorities or the courts.

In the petition, Dr. Levy urges the European Parliament to act directly to help the victims of crypto-active crimes as part of its EU strategy for the creation of a genuine single market for digital financial services.

The petition has been submitted to the EU Parliament—with the EU indicating that it will institute EU wider regulation of crypto assets to be phased in by 2022. Under the current EU rules, there are no provisions for victims of crypto crimes which usually range between fraud, extortion, money laundering, and cyber attacks.

The EU projects that the annual losses to individuals, organizations, and companies as a result of crypto-related crimes are in the billions of Euros and constitute a “massive transfer of wealth to organized crime firms.”

According to the EU announcement, the consortium of victims includes: disabled and elderly victims being preyed upon by crypto scammers posing as brokers. An American investor whose crypto wallet was hacked and nearly 1000 Bitcoins sent to a criminal operation; and, companies and individuals from Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Australia who were deceived into investing in fraudulent crypto-asset funds, nonexistent crypto mining operations, and deceptive ICOs by seemingly legitimate companies registered in England and Germany.

The consortium also includes victims of some of the more notorious crypto Ponzi schemes like OneCoin, as well as numerous offshore online casinos and FOREX platforms that use crypto to evade AML and consumer protection laws.

Russian Hacker Sentenced to 5 years of Prison for Money Laundering, Cybercrimes, and Extortion

Russian hacker Alexander Vinnik has been sentenced to 5 years of jail by a Parisian court.

As reported by a Novaya Gazeta correspondent who was present in the courtroom, Vinnik was sentenced for money laundering as part of an organized criminal group and for providing false information about the origin of the proceeds. In addition to this, Vinnik has been accused of extortion and numerous cybercrimes.

Per the report, the offenses were allegedly committed between January 1, 2016, to July 25, 2017, and on top of the five years of imprisonment, Vinnik will have to pay a fine of 100 thousand euros. All the proceeds from the alleged cybercrime will also be confiscated from Vinnik according to the report.

During the court proceedings, the judge called out the names of the companies and individuals that have identified themselves as Vinnik’s victims. After the procedure, the court did however drop some of the charges brought against the renowned hacker.

Vinnik’s legal troubles started earlier this year when the New Zealand police allegedly froze NZD$140 million ($90 million) from Canton Business Corp, a company he owned. The confiscation was based on allegations that the proceeds were secured from illegal trading and money laundering activities masterminded by Vinnik.

Responding to the sentencing, Frederic Belo, Vinnik’s defense attorney, said that his client was not guilty of any offense and that the latter’s admission of guilt was only due to a depressed state of mind resulting from solitary confinement and the recent death of his family. Belo, who called the entire lawsuit political, noted that “out of 14 charges brought against Mr. Vinnik, only one was sentenced – on charges of money laundering as part of an organized criminal group.” He added that this accusation was built exclusively on data transmitted to the CIA.

Belo lamented the deplorable state Vinnik was subjected to during the trial as he was locked up in solitary confinement given the coronavirus pandemic. The defense attorney said that the judgment will be appealed in the upcoming days.

Previously, Vinnik had been arrested in Greece per the request of the United States, under allegations that he conducted his money laundering operations through a cryptocurrency exchange, through which he washed billions of funds. Additionally, he has been accused of creating the Locky malware that has negatively impacted around 200 companies and individuals.