In Re: Snowflake, Inc., Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 3126

This multidistrict litigation consolidates for pretrial purposes all federal cases involving a cluster of breaches of the Snowflake cloud platform that allegedly occurred from approximately April to June 2024, during which a threat actor stole data belonging to certain Snowflake corporate clients including AT&T, Advance Auto Parts, Cricket Wireless, Ticketmaster/Live Nation, The Neiman Marcus Group, and Lending Tree’s QuoteWizard.com subsidiary. The data breaches allegedly resulted in the exfiltration of the personal information of over 500 million individuals. The Defendants in this litigation include but are not limited to: AT&T Inc. and AT&T Mobility, LLC (together, “AT&T”); Advance Auto Parts, Inc. and Advance Stores Company, Inc. (together, “Advance Auto Parts”); Cricket Wireless, LLC; Snowflake Inc.; Ticketmaster LLC and Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (together, “Ticketmaster/Live Nation”); The Neiman Marcus Group; and Lending Tree LLC and QuoteWizard.com LLC (together, “Lending Tree”).

On October 4, 2024, the JPML determined that these lawsuits involve “common factual issues concerning a cluster of breaches that occurred on the Snowflake cloud platform from approximately April through June 2024, when a threat actor allegedly exfiltrated the personal information of over 500 million consumers and employees whose information was stored on Snowflake’s cloud platform by Snowflake clients. All actions allege that Snowflake and the client defendants failed to safeguard their personal information, failed to implement adequate data security measures, and failed to provide timely notice of the breach to impacted individuals. The circumstances of the unauthorized access and data exfiltration, Snowflake’s data security practices, and Snowflake’s response to the incidents will be common to all actions. Snowflake’s security practices will be a particularly important issue in all actions, including the AT&T actions, considering the common allegation that Snowflake operates within a “shared responsibility” cybersecurity model and is jointly responsible with its corporate clients for protecting information held on the Snowflake cloud.”  The JPML also found that, “a single multi-defendant MDL provides the most efficient vehicle for coordinating the overlapping pretrial proceedings. Centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery; prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, particularly with respect to class certification; and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary.”  The JPML transfer Order can be found below.