Overview
- Connor Riley M., a 26-year-old Canadian, pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court this Thursday to charges including computer fraud and aggravated identity theft and faces sentencing on October 27, 2026.
- U.S. authorities say the campaign copied customer data from at least 165 Snowflake clients and exposed records tied to more than 100 million people, including financial records, payroll, driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
- Investigators and Snowflake say the intrusions resulted from stolen account credentials taken with infostealer malware rather than a flaw in Snowflake’s platform, allowing attackers to copy customer data directly.
- Prosecutors say stolen datasets were sold on darknet forums and used for repeated extortion that netted more than $2.5 million overall, with Connor receiving at least $495,000.
- The guilty plea has pushed Snowflake to require multi-factor authentication for accounts and renewed industry calls for stronger credential hygiene, secrets management and third-party security certifications to protect cloud data and users.