Suspected Snowflake Hacker Agrees to Be Extradited in the US

Connor Riley Moucka, a 25-year-old software engineer from Ontario charged in relation to a series of cyberattacks targeting customers of the cloud data storage company Snowflake, has agreed to be extradited to the United States and stand trial.

Moucka, also known online by many aliases, including "Judische" and "Waifu," was arrested on Oct. 30, 2024, following a provisional warrant issued at the request of the United States.

Allegations and Charges

Moucka stands accused of orchestrating unauthorized intrusions into the computer networks of at least 10 major companies, including AT&T, Live Nation Entertainment, and Advance Auto Parts.

These data breaches occurred between November 2023 and October 2024 and allegedly led to the theft of sensitive data from over 165 Snowflake customers. The stolen information contains billions of records with personal data such as call and text histories, financial details, and Social Security Numbers. ​

The U.S. indictment against Moucka has 20 charges, including conspiracy, computer fraud and abuse, extortion, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say that Moucka and his conspirators extorted approximately 36 bitcoin (valued at around $2.5 million at the time of the incidents) from at least three victim organizations.

How they did it

The investigation revealed that Moucka and his associates allegedly employed stolen credentials, some obtained through infostealer malware dating all the wat back to 2020.

They used these tools to access Snowflake customer accounts that didn’t have multi-factor authentication. Utilizing a software named "Rapeflake," they identified and extracted valuable data from compromised accounts. After the hackers got the data, the group allegedly tried to extort companies by threatening to publicly release the stolen information.

According to a Cyberscoop report, Moucka agreed in front a judge to be extradited to the United States, thus shortening the period usually necessary for these kind of transfers. It’s still unclear when exactly he will reach the United States.