A former Disney World employee was accused of hacking into Disney's restaurant menu software and altering critical information after his employment was terminated.
The employee, who previously served as a menu production manager responsible for Disney's entire restaurant portfolio, allegedly accessed the menu system from his personal device without authorization following his dismissal.
Federal prosecutors allege he made several harmful changes to the menus, including manipulating allergen notifications to falsely indicate that certain items were peanut-free when, in fact, they were not.
Other unauthorized modifications included altering prices and inserting profanity into the menus.
Disney reportedly detected the tampering before any affected menus were displayed to the public or used for ordering, thereby preventing potential harm to customers.
The inquiry, led by the FBI, concluded that the former manager's unauthorized activity took place for about three months, leading to his arrest.
Source: https://www.salon.com/2024/11/04/fbi-ex-disney-world-employee-accused-of-hacking-menus-altering-peanut-allergen-warnings/
Commentary
In the above matter, the threat came from a former employee who gained unauthorized access. Former employees can pose serious risks to online assets, often exploiting lingering access privileges, company knowledge, or unresolved grievances.
These risks are not limited to intentional sabotage. For instance, some cases have involved former staff members downloading sensitive customer data, such as the Cash App breach where a terminated employee maintained access and ultimately exposed information on millions of users.
In other situations, intellectual property or strategic documents may be stolen, such as the Yahoo incident involving a departing scientist transferring valuable source code and confidential data to external devices in anticipation of a competitor's job offer.
Medical and financial institutions are likewise vulnerable to disgruntled ex-workers who access and leak patient or client data, resulting in regulatory penalties and costly remediation.
Employee departures also make organizations vulnerable to accidental exposures, such as forgotten credentials that can be exploited for unauthorized access long after an employee has left. These scenarios highlight the importance of systematically revoking digital privileges during offboarding because delayed deactivation can result in major breaches. In some cases, firms have suffered losses from ex-employees who leveraged trade secrets in new roles or who inflicted reputational harm after being let go.
Employers can minimize these risks by adopting clear and comprehensive offboarding protocols, including revoking digital access promptly, conducting regular reviews of user permissions, and monitoring activity to detect suspicious behavior.
Implementing privileged access management and restricting data downloads to authorized users can deter both malicious and accidental breaches.
Equally important is ongoing education for current employees about secure data-management practices and the dangers of insider threats, coupled with organization-wide monitoring that can flag potential problems early.
By investing in these proactive measures, both technological and procedural, organizations can better safeguard their online assets from risks associated with former employees, reduce chances of data theft or exposure, and maintain trust with customers and stakeholders.
