Former Walt Disney World Cast Member Michael Scheuer was sentenced to prison after hacking the company’s internal allergy menu system and changing critical safety information about food served at the resort.
Scheuer was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Wednesday, after pleading guilty in January to knowingly dispatching unapproved commands to a protected computer and committing aggravated identity misuse, according to a report by That Park Place.
U.S. District Judge Julie Sneed also ordered the former Disney Cast Member to forfeit his computer equipment and pay $687,776.50 in restitution to victims.
Scheuer was fired from Disney in June 2024, but had retained access to the company’s internal menu system on his personal devices for months following his termination, federal filings reveal.
During that time, the former Disney employee reportedly altered menus to display profanity, changed fonts, and in what was considered his most egregious offense, manipulated allergen information on the resort’s menu.
Upon hacking Disney’s resort menu, Scheuer falsified warnings to make certain foods appear safe for guests with peanut allergies when they were in fact dangerous to consume.
Authorities said this menu altering by Scheuer could have resulted in guests with severe allergies being put at serious risk.
Moreover, Scheuer also changed information on Disney’s beverage list, swapping out regional origins of certain wines for locations where national tragedies have recently transpired.
He also reportedly added offensive symbols to menus, and obstructed access to the company’s internal accounts through a denial-of-service (DOS) cyberattack.
In a bizarre and disturbing move, Scheuer also visited the home of a Cast Member that was impacted by his actions and gave a thumbs-up hand gesture to a security camera outside the residence before leaving.
Disney reportedly responded by booking a hotel for the targeted employee and provided security at the location.
Due to the nature of the cyberattack and the escalating events, the FBI’s Tampa division got involved, sending agents to Scheuer’s residence, where he was raided, having his electronics seized, That Park Place reported.
“Formidable relationships with the private sector are a pillar of the FBI’s Cyber Strategy,” Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor said. “Through the strength in our partnerships, our Cyber Task Force swiftly identified Mr. Scheuer and disrupted his ability to continue threatening the public.”
“We are committed to safeguarding a robust Cyber Strategy to unmask malicious cyber actors to ensure justice is served,” Fodor added.
Once the news of Scheuer’s menu hacking activities came to light, the fired Disney employee’s lawyer stressed to NBC News that “no one was physically harmed,” despite the allegations being serious.
Disney has reportedly since stopped using the third-party menu management application that Scheuer hacked, moving over to a manual approval process while the company waits for a new, more secure platform to be developed.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
