![\"Elon](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2022-10\/nvsn4vf8_elon-musk-reuters_625x300_14_October_22.jpg\"\/ "\\"Elon")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\nElon Musk has revealed how Tesla caught an employee who was leaking the company’s confidential information to the press in 2008. The billionaire responded to aTwitter user who asked, \u201cElon in 2008 how did you catch that employee who leaked the confidential data of Tesla and sold it to the news outlet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nElon in 2008 how did you catch that employee who leaked the confidential data of Tesla and sold it to the news outlet?@elonmusk<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/pJ4SqaDPI4<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Vaibhav Balghare (@NASAEarthMars) October 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Elon Musk shared that they identified the accused by sending emails that looked identical to all its employees but each email was coded with different spaces. “That is quite an interesting story. We sent what appeared to be identical emails to all, but each was actually coded with either one or two spaces between sentences, forming a binary signature that identified the leaker,\u201d Mr Musk wrote.<\/p>\n
\nThat is quite an interesting story. We sent what appeared to be identical emails to all, but each was actually coded with either one or two spaces between sentences, forming a binary signature that identified the leaker.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Another user then asked Mr Musk about the fate of the employees caught. \u201cI’m not familiar with this. What happened to them? Fine, jail?\u201d the tweet read.<\/p>\n
\nI’m not familiar with this. What happened to them? Fine, jail?<\/p>\n
\u2014 Cyborg Werewolf (@MirrorinSpace) October 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Replying to this, the Tesla CEO revealed that \u201cThey were invited to further their career elsewhere\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nThey were invited to further their career elsewhere<\/p>\n
\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On being asked if he took any legal action against those involved in the data leak, Mr Musk wrote that he was \u201cToo busy trying to survive at the time\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nToo busy trying to survive at the time<\/p>\n
\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Elon Musk’s revelation prompted a flurry of reactions from social media users where some identified the technique used to catch the employee as the Canary Trap. One user also offered an explanation on the technique, simplifying it for others.<\/p>\n
\nLet’s say one space equals a 0 and two equals a 1. You have a binary conversion.<\/p>\n
Ex. Sentence._Sentence.__Sentence._<\/p>\n
That encodes to 010. That user now has the ID 010. Since you have two values in each spot, you can represent 2^N employees, where N is the number of sentences.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ty Clay (@TyDClay) October 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In 2019, Tesla had sent an email to its employees warning them to stop leaking confidential information. The email highlighted that Tesla employees had signed confidentiality agreements and action will be taken against those who \u201cimproperly leak proprietary business information or violate the non-disclosure obligations to which we all agreed\u201d. The action could mean termination of the employee, criminal charges, or claims for damages, the email added, as reported by CNBC<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n