Illinois Man Pleads Guilty to Mass Snapchat Hacking Scheme Targeting Hundreds of Women
A 27-year-old Illinois man, Kyle Svara of Oswego, has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges stemming from a large-scale hacking campaign that compromised the Snapchat accounts of approximately 600 women and girls. Svara faces up to 32 years in prison for aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, computer fraud, conspiracy, and false statements related to child pornography, with sentencing set for May 18.
Between 2020 and 2021, Svara used social engineering tactics to deceive victims into handing over security access codes by posing as a Snapchat representative. He successfully breached at least 59 accounts, downloading and distributing nude or semi-nude images, which he sold online or traded on internet forums. Svara also monetized his methods, offering hacking services to others for a fee.
One of his clients was Steve Waithe, a former track and field coach at Northeastern University, who hired Svara to hack the accounts of women on the team and personal acquaintances. Waithe was previously sentenced to five years in prison for wire fraud and cyberstalking. Svara’s targets included women in Plainfield, Illinois, and students at Colby College in Maine.
During the investigation, Svara initially lied to authorities about his involvement in accessing or distributing child sexual abuse material. The FBI and DOJ have encouraged potential victims to come forward.
The case follows a separate 2023 indictment of a former University of Michigan assistant football coach, Connor Weiss, who hacked into student athlete databases at over 100 colleges, accessing medical records of 150,000 individuals. Weiss also targeted the social media and cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 athletes primarily female seeking private images based on their athletic history and appearance.
Source: https://therecord.media/illinois-man-pleads-guilty-snapchat-nude-photo-hacks
Northeastern University cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/northeastern-university
Snap Inc. cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/snap-inc-co
"id": "NORSNA1770407892",
"linkid": "northeastern-university, snap-inc-co",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "5/2025",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Approximately 600',
'industry': 'Social Media',
'location': 'United States (Illinois, Maine, and '
'others)',
'name': 'Snapchat users (primarily women and girls)',
'type': 'Individuals'},
{'industry': 'Education',
'location': 'Maine, USA',
'name': 'Colby College',
'type': 'Educational Institution'},
{'industry': 'Education',
'location': 'Massachusetts, USA',
'name': 'Northeastern University',
'type': 'Educational Institution'}],
'attack_vector': 'Social Engineering',
'customer_advisories': 'Potential victims encouraged to come forward',
'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Yes (images distributed and sold '
'online)',
'file_types_exposed': 'Images (nude/semi-nude)',
'number_of_records_exposed': 'At least 59 accounts breached '
'(600 targeted)',
'personally_identifiable_information': 'Yes (account access '
'details)',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (explicit content, personal '
'data)',
'type_of_data_compromised': 'Nude or semi-nude images, '
'personally identifiable '
'information'},
'description': 'A 27-year-old Illinois man, Kyle Svara, pleaded guilty to '
'federal charges for a hacking campaign that compromised the '
'Snapchat accounts of approximately 600 women and girls. Svara '
'used social engineering to deceive victims into handing over '
'security access codes, breached at least 59 accounts, and '
'distributed nude or semi-nude images. He also monetized his '
'methods by offering hacking services to others.',
'impact': {'data_compromised': 'Nude or semi-nude images, personal account '
'data',
'identity_theft_risk': 'High',
'legal_liabilities': 'Federal charges (aggravated identity theft, '
'wire fraud, computer fraud, conspiracy, '
'false statements related to child '
'pornography)',
'systems_affected': 'Snapchat accounts'},
'initial_access_broker': {'data_sold_on_dark_web': 'Yes (images traded or '
'sold on internet forums)',
'entry_point': 'Social engineering (posing as '
'Snapchat representative)',
'high_value_targets': 'Women and girls (students, '
'athletes, personal '
'acquaintances)',
'reconnaissance_period': '2020-2021'},
'investigation_status': 'Guilty plea entered, sentencing pending',
'motivation': 'Financial gain, distribution of explicit content, '
'cyberstalking',
'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': 'Social engineering, lack of '
'multi-factor authentication '
'awareness, exploitation of '
'security access codes'},
'references': [{'source': 'Department of Justice'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'legal_actions': 'Federal charges, potential '
'sentencing of up to 32 years',
'regulations_violated': 'Computer Fraud and Abuse '
'Act, Identity Theft, Wire '
'Fraud, Child Pornography '
'Laws'},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Encouragement for potential victims '
'to come forward',
'law_enforcement_notified': 'Yes',
'third_party_assistance': 'FBI, DOJ'},
'threat_actor': 'Kyle Svara',
'title': 'Illinois Man Pleads Guilty to Mass Snapchat Hacking Scheme '
'Targeting Hundreds of Women',
'type': 'Hacking, Identity Theft, Data Breach, Cyberstalking',
'vulnerability_exploited': 'Security access codes obtained through deception'}