ORLANDO, Fla. — A former Disney employee found to have hacked the computer system that Walt Disney World uses to create its menus has been sentenced in federal court.
The Justice Department says U.S. District Judge Julie Sneed has sentenced Michael Scheuer, 40, of Winter Garden, to three years in federal prison. He must also forfeit his computer and pay $687,776.50 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.
Scheuer pleaded guilty in January to knowingly transmitting a program, code or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage and for committing aggravated identity theft.
Scheuer was a Walt Disney World menu production manager published menus for the company. According to court documents, after he was fired, he hacked their system to manipulate allergen information in restaurant menus to indicate that food items were safe for customers with certain allergies when they were not. Prosecutors say he also altered menu information related to wine regions to reflect locations of recent mass shootings.
He also 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.”
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