April 28 (UPI) — A fired Disney employee, who hacked into the company’s internal system and changed allergen information on restaurant menus while adding profanities, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.
Michael Scheuer, 41, was sentenced last week in Florida after pleading guilty to one count of computer fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in January. He was also ordered to pay nearly $688,000 in restitution to Disney.
“Mr. Scheuer remains remorseful and apologetic to the victims. We are grateful that the judge heard all of our arguments and mitigation when fashioning a sentence that was half of what the government was seeking,” Scheuer’s lawyer David Haas said in a statement.
Scheuer was fired last June from his job as a menu production manager, according to the original complaint, which said he hacked into Disney’s menu creation servers several times after his firing to change prices, add profanities and alter allergen ingredients, as well as fonts.
“This change was so substantial that it caused the menu creator system to become inoperable while the font changes were made to all of the menus,” according to the complaint.
Scheuer was also accused of disabling at least 14 Disney employee accounts as he tried to hack into the system using co-workers’ records with incorrect passwords.
“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.”