A Los Angeles County man has admitted to setting up an online hacking scheme to gain access to sensitive information of unsuspecting users, which he then used to download and leak confidential data from Disney.
Ryan Mitchell Kramer, 25, of Santa Clarita, agreed to plead guilty to one count of accessing a computer and obtaining information, and one count of threatening to damage a protected computer.
According to the United States Department of Justice, in 2024, Kramer uploaded a malicious computer program to multiple websites, including the online coding repository Github.
It was labeled as a program to create A.I.-generated art, but in fact was set up in a way to allow him to access the computers of those who downloaded it.
One of his victims, the DOJ says, was an employee at the Walt Disney Company, located in Burbank.
Kramer was able to access the victim’s computer and their stored login credentials for personal and professional accounts, including private Slack channels used by employees of the entertainment conglomerate.
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In this photo illustration, the American multinational mass media and entertainment The Walt Disney Company or also called Disney logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. (Getty Images) -
The Slack Technologies Inc. program on a laptop computer and the company logo on a smartphone arranged in Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S., on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Getty Images)
In May 2024, Kramer downloaded approximately 1.1 terabytes of confidential data from the Disney Slack channels.
The DOJ says he contacted the victim by email and through Discord, another online messaging platform, and claimed to be a member of a fake Russian hacking group called “NullBulge.”
Using this persona, Kramer threatened to leak the victim’s personal information and the cache of stolen Disney Slack data. The DOJ did not provide details about his initial demands to prevent the leak.
The messages went unanswered, at which point Kramer released the stolen files, as well as the victim’s personal, financial and medical information.
Kramer was eventually arrested following an investigation by the FBI.
As part of his plea agreement, he admitted to also hacking two other victims through the same means.
Kramer has agreed to plead guilty to two felony charges related to the hacking scheme, each of which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
He is expected to make an initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles “in the coming weeks,” the DOJ said.