Michael Scheuer, a former Disney employee, was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to hacking into the Walt Disney World menu system. The 41-year-old, who worked as a menu production manager, accessed Disney’s secure servers to alter menus following his dismissal in June 2024. The court ordered him to pay approximately $688,000 in restitution.
Scheuer’s hacking began after what he claimed was an unfair termination, using his personal devices to make multiple unauthorized changes over three months. These included altering menu prices and adding profanities, such as changing a dish named “cheesy grits” to “cheesy (expletive).” More troubling were his modifications to allergen information, where he removed warnings for allergens like peanuts and shellfish, falsely indicating that certain food items were safe for people with allergies.
Prosecutors described Scheuer’s actions as leading to “potentially fatal” consequences, and he also executed denial-of-service attacks on employees, locking them out of their accounts. The FBI, after investigating the cyber intrusions, found four computers at Scheuer’s home, all linked to the hacking incidents.
Defense attorney David Haas claimed Scheuer faced employment challenges due to a disability and had been receiving psychiatric care since childhood. He noted that Scheuer is remorseful for his actions and that the sentencing was less severe than initially sought by the government. The case highlights serious cybersecurity risks at major corporations and the potential dangers of insider threats.
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