Wednesday, 30 April 2025

Former Disney World Employee Sentenced To 3 Years In Federal Prison For Bizarre Hacking Crime

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A former Disney World employee was sentenced to three years in Federal prison after hacking into the company’s computer system and changing its menu information.

Federal documents revealed that after Disney terminated product menu manager Michael Scheuer for misconduct, he continued to access their menu system after he was terminated.

The edits made to the menus were quite dark and bizarre.

Prosecutors alleged Scheuer edited the menu to “manipulate the allergen information on menus by adding information to some allergen notifications that indicated certain menu items were safe for individuals with peanut allergies, when in fact they could be deadly to those with peanut allergies.”

He also edited the menu to include profanity and changed locations in the menu to places where mass shootings took place.

Check out what The Hill:

A former Disney World employee was sentenced to three years in federal prison for hacking into the company’s computer system to manipulate menu information.

In July, Disney said it became aware that Michael Scheuer, a former employee, had began accessing their menu system after he had been terminated for misconduct, according to a federal complaint.

Scheuer, 40, was previously employed at the company as a “menu product manager,” creating and publishing menus using a third-party computer system that was designed exclusively for Disney, the complaint said.

In addition to menu creation, the system “has several other functionalities, such as pricing, menu management, and inventory management,” according to the complaint.
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Scheuer was later accused of hacking back into the software, where he made some pages inaccessible, changed fonts, and added profanity.

He had also allegedly “manipulated the allergen information on menus by adding information to some allergen notifications that indicated certain menu items were safe for individuals with peanut allergies, when in fact they could be deadly to those with peanut allergies,” the complaint alleged.

In addition to manipulating the menus, Scheuer allegedly launched denial-of-service attacks aimed at disabling 14 employee accounts and hid his identity and location using a VPN. He was also accused of altering the information regarding wine regions on the menus, instead referencing the locations of mass shootings, the Department of Justice said.

Per The DOJ:

U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed has sentenced Michael Scheuer (40, Winter Garden) to three years in federal prison for knowingly transmitting a program, code, or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage and for committing aggravated identity theft. The court also ordered Scheuer to forfeit his computer, which was used to commit the offenses, and to pay $687,776.50 in restitution to the victims of his crimes. Scheuer pleaded guilty on January 29, 2025.

According to court documents, Scheuer conducted a series of computer intrusions or attacks directed at his former employer following his termination. These intrusions included manipulating allergen information in restaurant menus to indicate that food items were safe for customers with certain allergies, when they were not. Scheuer also altered menu information related to wine regions to reflect locations of recent mass shootings. Additionally, Scheuer launched denial-of-service attacks designed to lock certain company employees out of their accounts.

“Formidable relationships with the private sector are a pillar of the FBI’s Cyber Strategy. Through the strength in our partnerships, our Cyber Task Force swiftly identified Mr. Scheuer and disrupted his ability to continue threatening the public,” said FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor. “We are committed to safeguarding a robust Cyber Strategy to unmask malicious cyber actors to ensure justice is served.”

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.


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