Overview
- Connor M., 26, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. federal court in Seattle to charges that include unlawful access to computers, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy.
- U.S. investigators say the operation targeted Snowflake customer accounts from late 2023 through spring 2024 and copied data from at least 165 companies and more than 100 million people.
- Prosecutors say stolen files included SMS metadata, payroll records, passport numbers and Social Security numbers, and that defendants sold datasets and used extortion to collect at least $495,000 while victims report ransom demands that exceeded $2.5 million.
- Connor was arrested in Canada on October 30, 2024 at U.S. request and faces sentencing on October 27, 2026 with possible prison terms ranging from two years for identity theft up to 30 years overall; one co-defendant pleaded guilty in July 2025 and another alleged accomplice remains at large.
- Snowflake has begun enforcing mandatory multi-factor authentication and security advisers urge pre-upload encryption and certification checks, a shift that could force companies to change how they store and control cloud-held sensitive records and affect long-term identity risk for affected people.