Former Engineer Sentenced to 32 Months for Cyber-Extortion Attack on Employer
Summary
A former infrastructure engineer was sentenced to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to deleting administrator accounts, changing hundreds of passwords, and demanding 20 bitcoin from his employer.
Key points
- Daniel Rhyne, a former core infrastructure engineer at an industrial firm, was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison.
- In November 2023, he scheduled changes that would delete 13 domain administrator accounts and reset passwords for 301 user accounts and administrator accounts affecting hundreds of servers and thousands of workstations.
- The changes were intended to deny the company access to its systems and data.
- Rhyne demanded 20 bitcoin, then worth about $750,000, and threatened to shut down 40 servers per day unless paid.
- The company began an internal forensic investigation and involved the FBI; investigators traced the activity to Rhyne.
- Rhyne pleaded guilty to extortion involving a threat to damage a protected computer and intentional damage to a protected computer. The article says there is no suggestion the company paid the ransom.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Insider cyber extortion and intentional damage to a protected computer, resulting in a federal prison sentence.
- Impact
- The former engineer's scheduled tasks deleted 13 domain administrator accounts, changed passwords for 301 domain user accounts and two local administrator accounts affecting 254 servers and 3,284 workstations, denying the firm access to systems and data. He demanded 20 bitcoin, then valued at approximately $750,000. The article reports no suggestion that the firm paid the ransom.
People
Daniel RhyneFormer core infrastructure engineer who pleaded guilty to extortion involving a threat to damage a protected computer and intentional damage to a protected computer.Michael A. ShippDistrict Judge who presided over Rhyne's guilty plea in federal court.Timothy LeeFBI Special Agent who filed the criminal complaint based on the joint forensic investigation.
Countries
Industries
aquacultureThe firm provides services to industries involved in aquaculture, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil andbiopharmaceuticalsThe firm provides services to industries involved in aquaculture, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil andchemistryThe firm provides services to industries involved in aquaculture, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil andElectronicsThe firm provides services to industries involved in aquaculture, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil andFood and Beverageservices to industries involved in aquaculture, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, andHealthcareto industries involved in aquaculture, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper.hydrogen mobilityinvolved in aquaculture, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper.industrial processingchemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper.Manufacturingbiopharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper.metalselectronics, food and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper.Oil and gasfood and beverage, healthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper.pulp and paperhealthcare, hydrogen mobility, manufacturing and industrial processing, metals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper.