In today's digital landscape, data security is more crucial than ever. Recently, Snowflake, a leading cloud data warehouse, has observed a significant uptick in cyber threat activity targeting some of its customers' accounts. This development has prompted an in-depth investigation to understand and mitigate these risks.

The nature of the threat

According to Snowflake, this surge in cyber threats appears to be part of a broader trend of identity-based attacks aimed at obtaining customer data. These attacks exploit user credentials that were exposed through unrelated cyber incidents, not due to any vulnerability or misconfiguration within Snowflake's own systems. This highlights a critical aspect of contemporary cybersecurity challenges: even robust platforms can be indirectly affected by breaches in other areas.

Proactive measures and ongoing investigations

Snowflake has taken a proactive stance in response to this issue. Throughout the ongoing investigation, the company has promptly notified the limited number of customers who might have been impacted. This prompt communication is vital for mitigating potential damage and reinforcing customer trust.

Snowflake's assurance that these incidents do not stem from flaws in their product provides some reassurance. However, it underscores the importance of comprehensive security practices that extend beyond the immediate environment.

How Rubrik Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) Helps secure Snowflake

Identity-based attacks such as this one also highlight the fact that securing your data with perimeter defenses is no longer enough. In this threat landscape, the most effective strategy against sensitive data exfiltration is to improve your data security posture – making it harder for bad actors who log into your system to find, access, destroy, and steal your sensitive data.

Rubrik Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) helps users proactively reduce the risk of data exposure and exfiltration across on-premises, cloud, SaaS, and data warehouses. Rubrik DSPM provides the following benefits to organizations that want to secure data in their Snowflake environments.

  1. Deployment in minutes: The initial configuration process for Rubrik takes less than an hour with discovery and classification occurring shortly afterwards.

  2. Discovery: Rubrik helps security and governance teams discover Snowflake data warehouses within their cloud environment. It continuously monitors the cloud environment for changes and automatically detects newly added or modified data stores, including Snowflake.

  3. Prioritization: Rubrik helps customers prioritize data assets stored in Snowflake by providing visibility into the data and its sensitivity. It allows organizations to classify data and identify sensitive data that requires additional security measures.

  4. Security: Rubrik enables organizations to secure their Snowflake data warehouses by applying security controls and monitoring access to the data. It provides context-aware data visibility that allows organizations to leverage the native Snowflake tools to define who has access_and who does not need access_to specific data stores and sensitive data within Snowflake.

  5. Risk calculation specific to your business: Each business Rubrik works with is unique and has slightly different data types and security requirements. With this in mind, the Rubrik platform is designed with modularity and customization built in so the results are tailored to your organization's needs.

  6. Compliance: Rubrik assists organizations in maintaining compliance with industry regulations and data protection standards.

Learn more about securing your Snowflake data with Rubrik DSPM.