Alexander Moucka, a 25-year-old man from Kitchener, Ontario, made a brief appearance in court on Friday. He is facing an extradition request from the United States for his alleged involvement in a massive data breach. Moucka was arrested on October 30 at a home in the Stanley Park neighborhood of Kitchener.
Investigators had identified him as a suspect in the breach, which impacted several large U.S. companies. According to a U.S. court indictment, Moucka and another person, John Erin Binns, are accused of devising and executing international computer hacking and wire fraud schemes. The details align with a breach earlier this year that involved customers of Snowflake, a cloud-based data storage company.
Hackers accessed usernames, and in some cases passwords, through a third-party company that manages data on Snowflake. Companies that said they were impacted by the breach included AT&T, Live Nation, and Advance Auto Parts.
Kitchener man faces U.S. extradition
The court documents identify some of the victims as a major telecommunications company in the U.S. that had about 50 billion customer call and text records stolen, a major retailer, a major entertainment company, and a major healthcare company that all had some of their customers’ data stolen. It’s alleged the hackers successfully extorted about $2.5 million from at least three companies who paid ransoms. During the brief court appearance on November 29, Moucka confirmed he had retained a lawyer for the extradition matter.
He is scheduled to return to court on December 20. Moucka first appeared in court on the afternoon of his arrest. At a subsequent court date in mid-November, he indicated he was awaiting a decision on legal aid.
The extradition case continues as the legal proceedings unfold. The next court date is set for December 20.
