Orlando, Florida – Michael Scheuer, a 39-year-old resident of Orlando, has pleaded guilty to charges related to cyber intrusions against his former employer. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg. Scheuer admitted guilt to one count of knowingly transmitting a program, code, or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage without authorization, as well as one count of aggravated identity theft.
Scheuer could face up to 10 years in federal prison for the computer fraud charge and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years for the aggravated identity theft charge. The court has not yet scheduled a sentencing date.
The plea agreement details that after being terminated from his job, Scheuer conducted several attacks on his former employer's computer systems. These included altering allergen information on restaurant menus to falsely indicate safety for customers with allergies and changing menu data about wine regions to reference locations of recent mass shootings. Additionally, he executed denial-of-service attacks aimed at preventing certain employees from accessing their enterprise accounts.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Tampa Division Orlando Resident Agency Criminal Intrusion Cyber Squad led the investigation into this case. Assistant United States Attorney Robert D. Sowell is handling the prosecution.