US DOJ: Russian offered $1 million in bitcoins to a Nevada company employee for a cyberattack

The U.S. Department of Justice charged Russian citizen Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov with conspiring to commit cybercrime. He allegedly attempted to bribe an employee of a Nevada company with $1 million in bitcoins to install malware on the organization’s computer system.

United States v. Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov by ForkLog on Scribd

According to the charging documents, Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov planned to exfiltrate the company’s data and, under the threat of its publication, would demand a ransom.

The Russian national entered the United States on a visitor visa and, between July 15 and August 22, attempted to conspire with a Nevada-based company employee.

According to law enforcement, Kriuchkov told him that he belonged to a major organisation but did not specify which one.

He allegedly offered the employee 1 BTC as a down payment, as well as assistance in creating a Bitcoin wallet on the Tor network.

Although the court documents do not disclose the name of the company Kriuchkov allegedly planned to attack, it could be Tesla’s Nevada plant.

The Teslarati portal wrote about this. Teslarati. According to the article, the employee whom Krichkov attempted to bribe refused the money and contacted the FBI. 

Tesla chief Elon Musk responded to the article. He said he was “very grateful,” as it was a “serious attack”.

Much appreciated. This was a serious attack.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2020

Kriuchkov faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Earlier in June, the FBI-arrested Russian Sergey Medvedev admitted involvement in the Infraud cybercrime organization. It traded stolen personal data, compromised credit cards, malware and other illicit items.

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