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A 26-year-old Canadian hacker has admitted in court to orchestrating a major cybercrime scheme targeting Snowflake customers. Connor Moucka, who operated under the online aliases Waifu and Judische, pled guilty to compromising more than 165 companies through the cloud provider’s systems. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the guilty plea on Wednesday, marking a significant development in one of the year’s most serious data breach cases.
The scope of Moucka’s criminal activity was substantial. Working with accomplices, he accessed systems belonging to major corporations including AT&T, LendingTree, and Ticketmaster. From AT&T alone, he stole data on more than 100 million customers, exposing sensitive information such as call records, text histories, banking details, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license information from various victims across all breaches.
The financial impact of the scheme reached significant levels. Moucka and his associates extracted more than $2.5 million through ransom demands and an additional $500,000 by selling stolen information on underground hacking forums. Victims collectively suffered approximately $9.5 million in losses, according to Justice Department figures.
Moucka was apprehended in Canada in late 2024, just months after the Snowflake incidents came to light. Cybersecurity experts had identified him as one of the most consequential hackers operating that year. He faces sentencing on October 27 and could receive decades in prison for his crimes.
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Originally reported by Techcrunch →
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