“From Dream Job to Ruin: How One Disney Worker’s AI Experiment Cost Him $200,000 in Bonuses”
“The user was aware we had them, he tried to kick us out once but let us walk right back in before the second time,” they said in an email to CNN.
“Disney was our target due to how it handles artist contracts, its approach to AI, and its pretty blatant disregard for the consumer.”
“If we said, ‘Hello Disney, we have all your Slack data,’ they would instantly lock down and try to take us out. In a duel, you better fire first.”
Image credits: ryanking999/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)
As a result of the attack, Van Andel was fired from Disney after forensic analysis of his work computer found he had accessed p*rnographic content, which he denies.
“Mr. Van Andel’s claim that he did not engage in the misconduct that led to his termination is firmly refuted by the company’s review of his company-issued device,” a spokesperson for Disney recently told the Wall Street Journal.
The victim said that his health insurance was terminated following the cyberattack, and he lost $200,000 in bonuses.
Van Andel’s sister, Christa Maier, shared: “It was a tool that they had initially downloaded just to have fun with the children. But it was polluted with something, and this would not become apparent until many months later when they were mining data.”
When the engineer cut off the hackers’ access, they retaliated by sharing 44 million Disney messages
Image credits: Nicole Van Andel
According to Christa, the hackers’ motivations were not ideological but financial.
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