Advance Auto Parts Probes Potential Cyber Incident Linked To Snowflake

Advance Auto Parts AAP is reportedly investigating a potential data attack connected to a recent Snowflake SNOW cyber incident.

What Happened: Reports have surfaced on a dark web hacker forum indicating malicious actors may have stolen information on at least 380 million customers from the automotive aftermarket company, according to a Friday Axios report.

Hackers stole data from some 358,000 employees. Some 44 million loyalty and gas card numbers leaked.

“We are aware of reports that Advance may be involved in a security incident related to Snowflake,” Advance spokesperson Darryl Carr told Axios. “We have not experienced any impact to our operations or systems.”

Benzinga emailed Carr for additional commentary.

Raleigh, North Carolina-based Advanced Auto is the latest in a string of victims targeted by hackers exploiting Snowflake customers who lacked multifactor authentication.

Snowflake, a cloud computing company based in Bozeman, Montana, has maintained the leaked data was not due to vulnerabilities or misconfigurations on its systems. Instead, the company cites insufficient security measures by some of its customers.

The company says it is developing a plan to require its customers to implement “advanced security controls, like multi-factor authentication (MFA)” as a defense against future threats.

Advanced Auto isn’t the only company at risk. Ticketmaster reported that at least 500 million people are potentially at risk.

TechCrunch recently revealed the discovery of a dark web database containing what appears to be legitimate Snowflake customer credentials, stolen via infostealer malware.

Snowflake addressed the situation in a forum post titled “Detecting and Preventing Unauthorized User Access.”

Snowflake said it is engaging with its customers “to help guide them to enable MFA and other security controls as a critical step in protecting their business.”

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Why It Matters: This developing story highlights the critical need for robust security measures in cloud computing and the significant impact that cyber incidents can have on major corporations and their customers.

Snowflake reported first-quarter revenue growth of 33% year-over-year in May. Revenue reached $828.7 million and surpassed analyst expectations of $785.87 million.

The company has garnered attention for its GenAI initiatives, including Arctic and Cortex.

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy is reportedly seeking M&A opportunities in the AI space. Snowflake stock has seen a decline of over 26% in the last 12 months.

SNOW Price Action: Snowflake shares were trading down by less than 1% ahead of the market close Friday.

Investors can gain exposure to the stock through two exchange-traded funds: Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF VTI and Vanguard Information Tech ETF VGT.

Advanced Auto was down 0.25%, trading at $64.40 per share.

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