Engineer Sentenced to 32 Months for Bitcoin Extortion Against Employer

Daniel Rhyne, a former engineer at a New Jersey industrial company, has been sentenced to 32 months in prison for attacking the company's computer network and demanding a ransom in Bitcoin. Rhyne, 59, pleaded guilty to extortion and intentional damage to a protected computer. The sentencing occurred on September 28 by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp.

On November 25, 2023, the company's network administrators received password reset notifications for hundreds of accounts, followed by an email stating 'Your Network Has Been Penetrated.' The email demanded 20 BTC, approximately 750000 dollars at the time, to prevent further damage. Investigators traced the attack to an unauthorized virtual machine created on November 9, 2023, linked to Rhyne's company laptop.

The FBI's complaint detailed that Rhyne's laptop connected to the network from his home just before the attack, and he had searched for methods to clear logs and remotely shut down computers days prior. Rhyne faced a maximum of five years for extortion and ten years for damage but was sentenced to 32 months.

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