San Carlos-Based School Lunch Company Hacked; Rival Exec Arrested

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA -- The chief financial officer for a Danville-based company that provides school lunches is due in court later this month to face felony charges after he allegedly broke into a San Carlos-based rival company's computer system and stole student information.

Choicelunch CFO Keith Wesley Cosbey was taken into custody last month on two felony counts related to illegal acquisition of student data on the website of The LunchMaster, a San Carlos company, according to a May 6 San Francisco Chronicle article.

Cosbey is accused of accessing information about hundreds of students on The LunchMaster's online site, including names, meal preferences, allergy information, academic grades and more, San Mateo County deputy district attorney Vishal Jangla said.

Jangla said that last year, Cosbey anonymously sent the data to the California Department of Education and claimed LunchMaster wasn’t doing enough to protect student privacy in an apparent attempt to discredit or disparage the company.

After the LunchMaster contacted the FBI and county sheriff in April 2018, a lengthy investigation resulted in Cosbey's arrest last month. He is out on $125,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court May 22.

In a statement, Choicelunch confirmed that it's aware of the allegations against it's CFO, but that it's awaiting more information before making a substantive comment.