Investigators are digging into the activities of accused hackers who turned data theft into a payday.

Two alleged hackers face charges in the United States for orchestrating a cybercrime that exposed billions of customer records globally. 

Canadian Connor Moucka, also known as Alexander Moucka, and Turkish citizen John Binns are accused of targeting Snowflake’s cloud infrastructure, stealing sensitive data from major corporations, and demanding ransoms in Bitcoin.

According to the official indictment, the hackers allegedly accessed data from companies including AT&T and Neiman Marcus, compromising text histories, banking information, and identity documents like passports and driver’s licences. 

The attack affected around two million Australians, among millions more worldwide.

Moucka and Binns allegedly stole information from at least ten organisations. 

Prosecutors claim three victims paid a total of AU$3.8 million to prevent their data from being leaked.

The breach highlights growing concerns over the vulnerability of cloud-based systems. The Australian Cyber Security Centre has advised Snowflake users to enhance security by resetting credentials and enabling multi-factor authentication. 

US prosecutors allege the hackers operated under aliases - Moucka as “judische” and “waifu,” and Binns as “irdev”. 

They reportedly used offshore servers, fake credentials, and cryptocurrency to remain anonymous while advertising stolen data on the dark web.

The indictment suggests the hackers extorted victims by threatening to release stolen data, with AT&T believed to have paid US$370,000 to delete compromised records.

Ticketmaster is now facing a class-action lawsuit in California, alleging it failed to safeguard customer information. 

The company reiterated its commitment to data protection but advised customers to remain vigilant against identity theft. 

Snowflake, while denying any system flaws, has acknowledged the breach’s impact on its clients.

Moucka and Binns are expected to face trial in the US, with global investigations continuing too.

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