Canadian Man Pleads Guilty to Cloud Hacking Extortion Scheme That Hit 165 Companies
Do Son 
At a glance
| Actor | Connor Riley Moucka, 26, of Kitchener, Ontario |
| Activity type | Cloud account intrusion, data theft, and extortion |
| Targets or victims | At least 165 customers of a U.S. software-as-a-service provider |
| Scale | Billions of records; over $2.5M in ransom; 100M+ people affected |
| Status | Pleaded guilty; sentencing set for Oct. 27 |
| Source | U.S. Department of Justice press release |
TL;DR
A Canadian man pleaded guilty in a major cloud hacking extortion case. He and others compromised at least 165 companies through stolen logins. They stole billions of records and demanded ransom to keep the data private.
What happened
Between February and October 2024, the group used stolen login credentials to reach cloud-hosted data. That data belonged to customers of a U.S.-based software-as-a-service company. The scheme lines up with the wave of Snowflake data breach intrusions reported that year.
The attackers downloaded terabytes of information. Stolen data included financial records, passport numbers, and social security numbers. They then threatened to publish it online unless victims paid.
Re-extortion tactics
In at least one case, the defendant extorted a victim twice. The DOJ described his conduct as “calculated and predatory.” He also advertised stolen data on forums like BreachForums, Exploit.in, and XSS.is.
Who is behind it
The DOJ named Connor Riley Moucka, 26, of Ontario. Attribution here is confirmed by his own guilty plea. He admitted to four counts, including computer fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Impact and scale
The conspirators received more than $2.5 million in ransom payments, according to the DOJ. Moucka personally obtained at least $495,000. Victim companies suffered over $9.5 million in actual losses. Their customers totaled at least 100 million people.
What comes next
Moucka is scheduled to be sentenced on October 27. He faces a two-year mandatory minimum and up to 30 years on other counts. As one FBI official put it, “Hiding behind a screen is no shield from justice.”
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