This article details a case of account compromise via social engineering, where the attacker posed as a Snap Inc. representative to phish for credentials. After gaining access, the attacker enabled two-factor authentication on victim accounts to lock out the legitimate users and exfiltrate sensitive media. The threat actor also operated a hacking-for-hire service, leading to further sextortion crimes by a client.
Identity , Privacy Illinois man sentenced to over six years for hacking Snapchat accounts and distributing CSAM July 24, 2026 Share By SC Staff (Adobe Stock) Coverage from Bleeping Computer indicates that an Illinois man has been sentenced to 76 months in prison for hacking into the Snapchat accounts of over 750 women. The defendant, Kyle Svara, also admitted to distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Between May 2020 and February 2021, Kyle Svara, 26, used social engineering tactics and posed as a Snap Inc. representative to phish for Snapchat credentials from over 4,500 victims. He accessed approximately 517 women's accounts without permission to download nude or semi-nude photos and then enabled two-factor authentication to lock them out. Investigators also discovered approximately 530 images and 600 videos depicting CSAM within Svara's cloud storage account. Svara also advertised his hacking services online, trading stolen images and offering to access accounts for clients. One such client, former track and field coach Steve Waithe, was sentenced to five years in prison for sextortion after hiring Svara to hack student-athletes' accounts. Svara's independent hacking also targeted women in Illinois and students at Colby College. Source: Bleeping Computer SC Staff Related Application security Vatican’s ‘Click to Pray’ app leaks personal data of hundreds of thousands SC Staff July 24, 2026 A popular Vatican website and mobile app, 'Click to Pray,' was found to be leaking the names and email addresses of hundreds of thousands of its users. Active Directory Federation and Single Sign-On: How SSO Works and When It Breaks SC Media Editorial Intelligence, reviewed by Muthukumar Devadoss July 24, 2026 SSO failure modes create cascading authentication outages across connected services Identity Service-to-Service Authentication: Patterns for Securing API and Microservices SC Media Editorial Intelligence, reviewed by Muthukumar Devadoss July 24, 2026 Microservice architectures multiply the attack surface through service-to-service communication paths Related Events Cybercast The identity evolution that enables AI confidence Tue Aug 11 Cybercast IAM for MSSPs: Real-World Deployments On-Demand Event Cybercast Privilege risk is in the lifecycle: A CISO discussion on modernizing identity control On-Demand Event Get daily email updates SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news Business Email By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Subscribe Related Terms Anonymization Authenticity Basic Authentication Biometrics Certificate-Based Authentication Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) Digital Certificate Discretionary Access Control (DAC) Geolocation Identity Theft You can skip this ad in 5 seconds