Setting up access controls in Snowflake is critical in building and ensuring a robust governance framework. Weak access policies and controls could mean increased data breaches, hefty regulatory fines, sensitive data theft, and slow workflows. Read on to learn more about the data access and operational controls in the Snowflake environment and how Securiti helps enterprises review granular controls and fine-tune policies to prevent sensitive data exposure.
What are Data Access Controls in Snowflake?
Data Access Controls are an essential part of data governance for any database. These controls are necessary to protect data from unauthorized access and usage by malicious actors.
In Snowflake, data access control privileges determine:
- Who can access, and
- Use the data to perform operations on specific objects in Snowflake.
Snowflake provides granular visibility into access controls. Snowflake Administrators can see all the privileges each user has and ensure all access privileges comply with the organization’s data governance policies.
What are Role-Based Access Controls (RBACs) in Snowflake?
Snowflake’s role-based access controls define which roles have access to which objects in the database and for what purposes.
RBACs make data governance in Snowflake easy and efficient, too. System administrators only need to set up access controls for each role once. After that, when an individual is assigned a specific role, they are automatically granted access to data in accordance with the organization’s governance policies.
In Snowflake, a user can also be assigned multiple roles if required. Users can switch roles to perform different actions, each with its own set of privileges. Users with appropriate access can also create custom roles.
Snowflake includes system-defined roles, such as Account Administrator, Security Administrator, User Administrator, System Administrator, and the default role Public. Depending on the organization’s requirements, the user administrator can give additional privileges to each role. Security Administrators can also create custom roles in Snowflake and assign specific privileges to them. The privileges associated with a role are inherited by any roles above that role in the hierarchy.
The Data Access Control Considerations in Snowflake
Data Access Controls are granted to roles that are then assigned to individual users. There are several factors data governance professionals need to consider when creating data control policies to manage secure access to their Snowflake instance and the data stored within it.
The Snowflake instance may contain personal data, including sensitive personal data, of customers, vendors, or employees. While formulating data governance policies, the team needs to assess each role’s specific data access needs and assign privileges accordingly. Personal and Sensitive Personal Data requires additional protection, and access should be carefully restricted.
For example, a payroll analyst might need access to employees’ sensitive personal data, such as financial accounts, tax status, age, and government tax (Social Security) numbers, to perform daily duties. This data is highly sensitive, and access to it should be very restricted.
On the other hand, an HR analyst might only need access to general employee information, such as joining dates, resignation dates, positions held, and contact information. This is personal information that must be restricted, but to a lesser extent than sensitive personal data.
For more information, read the extensive guide to Data Access Control Considerations in Snowflake.
The Data Access Control Privileges in Snowflake
Once access has been defined, additional privileges determine the specific operations users can perform on data within the Snowflake system.
As with access control considerations, data governance teams need to carefully assess each role’s duties and responsibilities to determine the appropriate privileges and grant them accordingly. Using the previous examples, HR representatives should be able to change an employee's name. home address details, next of kin, and many other fields, but not the date of birth. Payroll should be able to change banking details and update tax information, but other personal data changes are likely not in their remit.
Snowflake has extensive privileges that user administrators can assign to multiple roles. For instance, a database administrator will need database privileges to modify and monitor the database, or to create schemas. However, to safeguard the data itself, organizations need to decide whether the database administrator can only change the schema, but not the data within the database. On the other hand, a data analyst might be granted only SELECT privileges.
For more information, go through the detailed guide on Data Access Control Privileges in Snowflake.
Manage Snowflake Data Access Controls and more with Securiti
Securiti has designed a customized solution that integrates natively with Snowflake and automates Data Governance, privacy, and data security.
Data Governance for Snowflake
Securiti integrates with Snowflake to incorporate all Data Governance features and simplifies policy enforcement through automation. Once Data Governance policies are defined, the solution continuously monitors data access and usage configurations and issues automatic alerts for any misconfigurations.
The solution also incorporates:
- Dynamic Data masking based on roles and policies to restrict access & usage of sensitive data from unauthorized personnel.
- Table, column, and even row-level access policy enforcement
- User access history audits to detect any non-compliance with governance policies
Learn more about Securiti’s Data Governance features for Snowflake
Data Privacy for Snowflake
Securiti specializes in providing cutting-edge, A.I.-powered data privacy solutions that automate:
- Data Mapping and Classification of personal data,
- Quick and accurate DSR fulfillment.
- Using a conversational interface (Auti), you can extract any individual’s personal data within minutes.
- Comprehensive Privacy Risk Assessments that enable proactive approaches,
- Data Breach Management Notifications that meet strict regulatory requirements and notify all impacted parties as quickly as possible.
- The Workflow Orchestration feature uses a simple drag-and-drop interface and automates various privacy, governance, and security functions within Snowflake.
Learn more about Securiti’s Data Privacy features for Snowflake.
Data Security for Snowflake
Securiti’s solution also incorporates all of Snowflake’s native data security features, including:
- Network Security:
- Site access is controlled through IP allow and block lists, managed through network policies.
- Account/user authentication:
- MFA (multi-factor authentication) for increased security for account access by users.
- Automated security scanning for any misconfigurations. Snowflake Security Administrators can choose to automatically remediate any misconfigurations or receive notifications.
- Compliance with Data Regulations like PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and more.
- Map security policies to specific standard controls and regulatory compliance
- Generate one-click reports to demonstrate compliance coverage to regulators and auditors for various data privacy and security regulations.
Learn more about Securit’s Data Security features for Snowflake
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
