DANIEL Rhyne, 59, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court to extortion related to hacking a New Jersey-based industrial company’s computer network and threatening to damage its systems unless a ransom was paid.
According to documents filed in this case, Rhyne, while employed as a core infrastructure engineer, began the scheme in around November 2023, initiating unauthorized remote desktop sessions and scheduling tasks intended to damage Victim-1’s network, including deleting administrator accounts, changing passwords, and shutting down servers.
On 25 November 2023 he began deploying the tasks and sent an extortion email to Victim-1 employees demanding approximately 20 bitcoin, which was valued at about $750,000 at the time. The extortion charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, while the intentional damage charge carries a maximum of 10 years, with possible fines up to $250,000 or twice the gross amount of gain or loss. According to U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer, the FBI’s Newark Field Office and the FBI Kansas City provided crucial support for the investigation.