Ex-Disney Employee Charged with Hacking Menu Database

A former Disney employee was arrested and charged after allegedly hacking into the corporate’s techniques and altering its restaurant menus.

Michael Scheuer, an ex-menu manufacturing supervisor at Disney, was charged with violating the Pc Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) on three completely different events.

He was fired from this place in June, after unspecified misconduct; his dismissal was described as “contentious” and “not thought of to be amicable,” in accordance with court docket paperwork.

Scheuer allegedly used his work credentials, which have been nonetheless functioning after his termination, to log into the Disney menu creation system contracted by a third-party firm and alter the fonts within the system to Wingdings symbols.

When the menu creator was launched, it will attain for these altered font information, believing them to be right. 

“Because of this modification, all the menus inside the database have been unusable as a result of the font modifications propagated all through the database,” read the complaint.

Scheuer additionally allegedly deleted allergen info from the menus, suggesting some meals have been protected after they weren’t, resulting in probably lethal penalties. The menus have been recognized and remoted by Disney earlier than they could possibly be shipped.

The menu modifications prompted the system to go offline for a few weeks and required backup to revive.

Scheuer has additionally been accused of being the foundation explanation for a number of distributed denial-of-service assaults in opposition to a number of Disney workers, their info present in a folder on one in every of Scheuer’s digital machines, labeled “dox.” Based on the FBI, the proof discovered within the investigation pointed to Scheuer because the perpetrator. He has been charged on two violations of the CFAA and stays in jail pending a bond listening to. If discovered responsible, he faces as much as 15 years in jail.