A former Disney engineer is speaking out after the massive hack that compromised internal Disney data, leaked personal information, and ultimately led to his termination. What started as an innocent AI software download quickly escalated into a full-scale breach, with hackers exposing nearly a terabyte of Disney’s internal communications. Now, the employee at the center of it all claims he was fired after trying to protect the company—and he’s fighting back.
A Simple Download Turned Into a Nightmare
In July 2024, Matthew Van Andel, then an engineer at The Walt Disney Company, unknowingly set off a chain reaction when he downloaded an AI-powered photo software onto his work computer. What he didn’t realize at the time was that the software was laced with a hacking program.
Shortly after the download, Van Andel received an ominous Discord message from an anonymous user who had access to his private Disney Slack account information. The hacker claimed to have compromising details about Van Andel’s personal life, leaving him scrambling to reset passwords and notify Disney security teams.
The threats quickly escalated. Van Andel’s Social Security number, Disney login credentials, and even his children’s online gaming accounts were leaked. His personal social media accounts were vandalized, and strangers began leaving disturbing voicemails on his phone.
Van Andel’s family claims the hackers weren’t originally targeting Disney—they had first stolen his credit card numbers and banking information before realizing his connection to the company.
“They realized where he worked and they were like, ‘We can have some additional fun with this,’” Van Andel’s sister said.
Disney Takes Action, But Not Against the Hackers
While Van Andel alerted Disney’s security team and attempted to contain the damage, the company launched its own forensic investigation into his work computer, what they found led to his immediate termination.
Disney’s internal audit claimed Van Andel had used his company computer to access pornography—an allegation he vehemently denies. Despite his claims of innocence, Disney let him go.
A Massive Data Leak and a Growing Controversy
Disney’s data breach wasn’t contained to just Van Andel. In a widespread cyberattack, hackers released nearly a terabyte of internal communications, including:
- Slack messages between employees
- Confidential company project details
- Unreleased Disney advertising strategies
- Computer code and sensitive data
A hacker collective calling itself Nullbulge took responsibility for the attack, claiming they acted “due to how [Disney] handles artist contracts, its approach to AI, and its pretty blatant disregard for the consumer.”
Fighting Back: Van Andel Seeks Compensation
Since his termination, Van Andel has been fighting for compensation from The Walt Disney Company, claiming he lost wages and suffered emotional distress due to the fallout from the hack.
His family has also come to his defense, arguing that he put himself at risk to protect Disney during the hack and was wrongfully fired.
“When the hacker made their presence known and tried to extort our brother for additional information, he instead went directly to the authorities and put himself, his family and his reputation at risk to protect his employer,” his family wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise money for him.
Meanwhile, Van Andel claims that hackers are still trying to access his information and log in to his personal accounts.
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