p3x.deFired Employee Allegedly Hacked Disney World's Menu System to Alter Peanut Allergy Information
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Yeah, the proper time to revoke credentials is before they even know they're getting fired. At all the places I worked, the first sign that someone was getting fired would be that they're suddenly unable to access anything.
It's likely that HIS credentials were revoked, but anyone in IT will tell you there many systems which are accessed by a shared direct username/password login, and yes while that should be changed when needed a much easier solution would be to lock those apps/sites behind a VPN which is much easier to revoke access to.
Exactly. Nothing with shared credentials should be directly accessible to someone off site to begin with. Either way things went down they have a security hole you could fly a blimp through. Either they aren't revoking credentials properly or they have eternally facing systems using shared credentials.
IT systems need a way to pre-enter an account deactivation, and when HR sends a text to the system it makes it live, or something. I've been the IT guy who was told to disable an account, and the user found out before the news was broken so they asked me what was going on. No bueno.
Using your credentials is not hacking, but once he was canned he no longer had authorization to access those systems. Legally, there is probably no distinction between gaining access by actual hacking vs. using credentials that are no longer authorized.
So yes, their IT processes are deficient, but that doesn't let the guy off the hook or mitigate his punishment.
Unauthorized access is what the US government calls it.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1030
Jo MiranThis is messed up. Messing with allergen info can kill people.
This was my first thought too. Interestingly that death occurred October 2023, while this particular fired employee is accused of accessing Disney's menu systems around June-September 2024.
Almost like this ex-employee saw the news earlier and was then inspired to try to murder someone with bad allergen info.
changed allergy information on menus to say that foods that had peanuts in them were safe for people with allergies, added profanity to menus, and at one point changed all fonts used on menus to Wingdings
These 3 things are on so different levels of damage.
I wonder if somebody just made up one of them... or another person added one afterwards.
Captain AggravatedTwo of those are wacky japes, one of them is attempted something in the somethingth degree. Wasn't long ago someone did actually die in a Disney park due to nut allergies.
Sounds like them covering they asses after the fact
Or the employee was an allergy denialist. I know many people like that, and at least one almost killled a person, for the sole reason of some people claiming to ge gluten intolerant because of their health guru saw some people losing weight due to their primary carb source became expensive (it had a weird positive side effect of such item being more available, although early on some of such items secretly contained gluten).
A while back a woman died after eating at a Disney restaurant and being assured that the food she was ordering was allergen free. Disney responded very poorly to the husband's suit, but I wonder if the Disney employee believed things were allergen free because of one of these hacked menus.
This is exactly what Disney is trying to do by throwing an ex employee under the bus.
If people's lives depend on your systems, and your systems can be undermined by a single person and not caught for years, then you're playing with people's lives.
Secondly, even if this was the case, how could they possibly justify trying to get out of being accountable by saying she signed away her rights by using a free month of Disney+?
This is just Disney moving on to their next bullshit excuse to not pay after the first one didn't work.
Is this their attempt to get out of that negligence suit where that person died and they tried to force arbitration from the clause in a free trial of Disney plus?
Article says the erroneous menus weren't distributed. So, probably not.
It should be trivially easy to prove either way.
There will either be records on when it was changed or when it was discovered and fixed.
If there isnt, then it didnt fucking happen and Disney is lying.
Well, as that was a restaurant not managed by Disney, but through an independent pub owner in their public market area... I kind of doubt it.
That's why you disable their account before telling them they're fired.
Doesn't sound like an account access problem, sounds like a shared password problem.
No, it's definitely hacking because that makes me a hacker with my friends sports TV subscription 👨💻😎
You mean you don't give them 2 weeks notice on firing?
If you'll find for course you don't get given notice. If somebody is breaking the rules and being dangerous you don't want them hanging around for another 2 weeks you want them gone now.
If it's a layoff then yeah you get notice
The US is at will, nobody gives 2 weeks for termination unless maybe it's a layoff. If a company has grounds to fire you they just fire you. Most will be smart enough to disable accounts before you're even out the door.
"Most" is optimistic. I don't have statistical information proving otherwise, but anecdotally I am not so sure. A big company like Disney with their own team of IT and official policies and this still happened is exhibit A.
Even in locations where you are required to give notice, you can just pay out the notice period.
No. You give 2 Months.
In a company as blue-chip as Disney, the discontinuation of access and privileges and security clearance are indicators of imminent repositioning, likely firing if you've engaged in mischief (such as voicing your opinion or comparing salaries).
It's why you give sweet Christmas presents to the awkward guy in HR and invite him to all your socials. Blow him if he's into it. He's your intel source regarding who is in danger of discharge, and if the boss doesn't like you.
This disgruntled guy had to be lower rank than the mailroom if HR wasn't given notice, and his access was super low priority. No-one cared.
(Yes, I'm bitter.)
Removing the allergen warning is basically some form of attempted manslaughter.
Which Disney apparently sort of did on their own, but now they’re funding news stories about an employee who went rogue ! Ha see Disney isn’t at fault!! Right?! 🙃
Murder. Firing a gun in a crowd is not manslaughter because you don't see exactly who you are killing. You know it's going to kill someone and that's the goal so it's murder.
If you want to screw with your former employer, screw your former employer. This is criminal.
This sounds like a scapegoat.
I agree.
Maybe, but eugenicists exist.
I also agree that eugenicists exist.
Outsourced IT and not all Apps were not AD authenticated, is my guess. It's probably a request sitting in a queue waiting for SLA.
Jesus, if he had only done the allergy thing and not the profanity or wingdings it's likely nobody would have noticed and people would have died(!)