Former Disney Employee Admits to Hacking Menu System to Change Allergy Information

A former Disney employee who was fired for misconduct has admitted to hacking the company’s menu-making software to change key details, including information about food allergies, that could be dangerous to customers at the resort’s restaurants.

An indictment brought by the Justice Department last year alleges that a man named Michael Squire committed a variety of computer crimes after being fired from the company he worked for. The complaint did not name the company affected, although additional reports identified the company as Disney. Now, it’s being reported that Scheuer, who previously worked as the company’s “menu production manager,” has allegedly confessed to the computer crimes in question. Part of a plea agreement.

Court Watch that report Scheuer agreed to reinstate Disney as well as pay a government fine. Scheuer’s lawyer, David Haas, reportedly said: “Mr. Scheuer is ready to accept responsibility for his behavior. Unfortunately, he has mental health issues that were exacerbated when Disney fired him after he returned from paternity leave.” Haas added: “No one was ever at risk of injury and he deeply regrets what happened.”

When reached for comment by Gizmodo, Haas confirmed Court Watch’s report, noting that no plea date has yet been set. After a plea deal is reached between the defense attorney and the prosecutor, the date a defendant actually enters a guilty plea is called the plea date.

Scheuer’s attacks on the company allegedly took place over a three-month period. During that time he “managed the menus of restaurants owned and operated” by Disney, the original complaint said. A more “benign” of these attacks is to deface the various menus by changing their fonts to wingdings, thus rendering them incoherent. In other cases, Scheuer is said to have interjected obscenities into menus. The most serious offense, however, involved Scheuer’s attempt to manipulate allergen information on menus. Scheuer is also accused of conducting denial-of-service attacks on the work accounts of his former colleagues.

Court Watch reveals additional details about what Square apparently did based on newly released court documents:

Scheuer changed the wine regions of the alcoholic beverages to places where mass shooting took place. Court documents say he, in one instance, added a swastika to a menu. Scheuer admitted to leaking the link and login he used to change the menu on the dark web.

Fortunately, none of the restaurant menus that Scheuer managed were ever delivered to the venues.

Disney was actually the victim of an unrelated “wrongful death” lawsuit last year after a woman died while dining at a restaurant operated by one of Disney’s Florida properties. The woman was allergic to nuts and dairy, and she and her husband were wrongly told by their waiter that the meal she ordered could be made without these ingredients. The suit prevailed after Disney tried to throw out the suit based on the binding arbitration clause in the couple’s Disney+ trial subscription. After much outcry, Disney announced that it would abandon its crude legal tactics and let the case go to trial.