A former core infrastructure engineer has been sentenced to 32 months in prison for a ransomware-style incident that locked thousands of devices on his employer’s network. The individual, 57-year-old Daniel Rhyne from Kansas City, Missouri, remotely gained access to the New Jersey company’s network using an administrator account between 8 November and 25 November, then scheduled tasks on the domain controller to alter credentials and disrupt access for staff.
Court documents cited by the reporting indicate he changed the administrator account password to “TheFr0zenCrew!”, deleted 13 domain administrator accounts, and altered the passwords for 301 domain user accounts to the same phrase.
The case originated with Rhyne’s admission and subsequent plea, following his August 2024 arrest and release after an initial appearance in federal court. The actions effectively locked substantial parts of the company’s Windows environment, resembling a ransomware-extortion scenario, though the article summarising the case notes that the extortion plot did not ultimately succeed in obtaining a payout. Evidence cited includes court filings from the U.S. Department of Justice (Eastern District of New Jersey).
Reporting links reference coverage by BleepingComputer and related outlets detailing the arrest and plea. The employer, a national industrial company headquartered in New Jersey, was the victim of this insider-actor incident, with the disruption affecting thousands of devices connected to the network.