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THE 2024 SNOWFLAKE DATA BREACH. Authentication Failure at Cloud Scale.
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AGENDA. 01. What is Snowflake?. Context on the platform and its role in enterprise data.
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WHAT IS SNOWFLAKE?. A Cloud Data Warehouse Platform.
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HOW THE ATTACK UNFOLDED. 2020–2023. Infostealer Infections.
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WHY IT WORKED — ROOT CAUSES. 1. No MFA Enforcement.
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TECHNICAL DEEP DIVE: INFOSTEALER MALWARE. 1. Delivery.
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SCALE & IMPACT. 165+. organizations targeted. 500M+.
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CONNECTIONS TO COURSE TOPICS. Authentication & Access Control.
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RECOMMENDATIONS. 1. Enforce MFA on All Accounts — No Exceptions.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS. The Snowflake breach was not a zero-day exploit — it was entirely preventable with basic authentication hygiene. Infostealer malware has created a self-sustaining credential economy on the dark web that makes every unprotected account a liability. MFA is no longer optional — for cloud data platforms holding PII or financial data, it must be mandatory and enforced at the platform level. The shared-responsibility model in SaaS requires active engagement from both vendor and customer; passivity on either side creates exploitable gaps. Credential monitoring, network controls, and anomaly detection form the defensive triad that could have stopped this attack at multiple stages..