BOZEMAN, MT – In a significant data breach, several major companies have been impacted due to vulnerabilities in their Snowflake cloud storage accounts. The breach, which came to light in early June 2024, has affected companies like Advanced Auto Parts and LendingTree, among others.
Details of the Breach:
The breach involved unauthorized access to Snowflake’s cloud storage, leading to the theft of vast amounts of data. The hacker, known by the alias “Sp1d3r,” has claimed responsibility for the breach and has been offering the stolen data for sale on various cybercrime forums.
Advanced Auto Parts:
Advance Auto Parts was one of the primary victims, with the hacker claiming to have stolen 3 terabytes of data. This includes 380 million customer profiles, 140 million customer orders, and details from 44 million loyalty or gas cards. Additionally, personal information of 358,000 employees was also compromised, which might include data of former employees as well. The stolen data encompasses names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, transaction details, and more.
LendingTree and QuoteWizard:
Another affected entity is LendingTree, specifically its subsidiary QuoteWizard. The breach reportedly exposed 190 million customer profiles and identity data. While LendingTree has confirmed the breach, it stated that consumer financial account information does not appear to be impacted at this time. Both LendingTree and QuoteWizard use Snowflake for their business operations, and the compromised data was stored in Snowflake’s cloud environment.
Other Affected Companies:
The breach also impacted several other high-profile companies. Ticketmaster and Santander were among the first to disclose their data breaches linked to Snowflake. Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, confirmed that 560 million customer records were compromised. Similarly, Santander reported the theft of 30 million customers’ credit card and personal data.
Snowflake’s Response:
Snowflake has maintained that the breaches were not due to any vulnerability within its platform but rather due to compromised credentials of its customers. The company emphasized the importance of using multi-factor authentication (MFA), which many affected customers had not enabled. Snowflake continues to work with cybersecurity firms like CrowdStrike and Mandiant to investigate and mitigate the impacts of these breaches.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®
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