Former Disney Employee Accused Of Changing Menus and Hacking Has Pled Guilty

Previously, we reported a story involving Michael Scheuer, who was accused of hacking into Disney menu systems and changing prices and even allergen information, has pled guilty in federal court. 

Michael Scheuer was reportedly fired as a Walt Disney World menu production manager a few months before his arrest. Even after his termination, he is accused of hacking into a third-party menu creation system used by Disney and making changes like adding profanity to menus, adding a swastika to a menu, and redirecting QR codes to a boycott Israel website.

He is also accused of changing allergen information to indicate that food containing peanuts was safe. He also changed fonts to Wingdings, which required a backup restoration that took days to complete.

Disney caught the issue before the menus were distributed.

Other accusations included targeting upper management employees with a targeted DoS attack involving using incorrect passwords to lock access to the system.

Scheuer has been charged with two counts.

One count addresses his intentional damage that results in a loss of at least $5k in one year. The second count is identity theft.

Count Two has a mandatory two-year minimum sentence, according to WFTV 9,

“Count Two carries a mandatory sentence of two years imprisonment to be served consecutively to any term of imprisonment for Count One, as well as a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain caused by the offense, or twice the gross loss caused by the offense, whichever is greater.”

No sentencing date has been announced yet. Scheuer’s attorney David Haas, did give a statement to Courtwatch, saying,

“Mr. Scheuer is prepared to accept responsibility for his conduct. Unfortunately, he has mental health issues that were exacerbated when Disney fired him upon his return from paternity leave. No one was ever at risk of injury and he is deeply remorseful for what happened.”

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