A 59-year-old Missouri man pleaded guilty April 1 to federal charges involving the hacking of a New Jersey-based industrial company and an attempt to extort the firm for approximately $750,000 in bitcoin.

Daniel Rhyne, of Kansas City, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court, admitting to one count of extortion related to computer threats and one count of intentional damage to a protected computer.

Court documents and statements show that in November 2023, Rhyne was a core infrastructure engineer for the victim company, identified as “Victim-1.” During his employment, Rhyne accessed the network via unauthorized remote desktop sessions to prepare a coordinated attack.

He scheduled automated tasks designed to delete network administrator accounts, change passwords for various company accounts, and shut down multiple servers. These tasks were deployed on Nov. 25, 2023.

On the day the attack began, Rhyne sent an extortion email to company employees. He threatened to continue the server shutdowns unless the company paid 20 bitcoin. At the time of the demand, the cryptocurrency was valued at approximately $750,000.

The extortion charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while the charge of intentional damage to a protected computer carries a maximum of 10 years. Both counts include potential fines of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the crime.

U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer credited the FBI’s Newark and Kansas City field offices with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Taj Moore of the Cybercrime Unit is representing the government in the matter.

Rhyne remains scheduled for sentencing at a later date.

The Source: Information in this article is based on the USAO, District of New Jersey releases.