Hacker pleads guilty to stealing data from more than 165 Snowflake customers

In Brief

Connor Moucka, a 26-year-old Canadian citizen, has pled blameworthy to hacking much than 165 companies, stealing billions of records, and extorting respective companies and individuals. 

On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department announced the blameworthy plea successful a property release. 

Moucka was accused of hacking unreality supplier Snowflake, which allowed him and his co-conspirators to interruption into dozens of the company’s customers, including AT&T, LendingTree, and Ticketmaster. Moucka stole information from much than 100 cardinal AT&T customers, including telephone and texting records, arsenic good arsenic banking information, drivers’ licence numbers, and Social Security numbers from different breaches. 

Over the years, Moucka and his accomplices received much than $2.5 cardinal successful ransom payments. The hacker besides received astir $500,000 for selling victims’ information connected hacking forums specified arsenic the notorious BreachForums. Victims of Moucka and his accomplices’ hacks suffered $9.5 cardinal successful losses, according to the DOJ. 

“Connor Moucka’s threats and re-extortion tactics were calculated and predatory, and his actions did existent harm to his victims, beryllium they companies targeted for theft and extortion oregon the millions of mundane radical who are their customers,” said W. Mike Herrington, an FBI peculiar cause who worked connected the case.

Moucka, who was known online arsenic Waifu and Judische, was arrested successful Canada astatine the extremity of 2024, conscionable months aft the Snowflake breaches. 

At the time, Austin Larsen, a elder researcher astatine Google’s cybersecurity steadfast Mandiant who had been investigating the Snowflake hacks, said Moucka was “one of the astir consequential” hackers of 2024. 

Moucka is scheduled to beryllium sentenced connected October 27, and faces decades successful prison.

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