Snowflake Employee Data Detection

Learn how to detect employee data in Snowflake environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for ISO 27001 compliance.

data exposure

ISO 27001

snowflake

Why It Matters

The core goal is to identify every location where employee information is stored within your Snowflake environment, so you can remediate unintended exposures before they become breaches. Scanning for employee data in Snowflake is a priority for organizations subject to ISO 27001, as it helps you prove you've discovered and accounted for all sensitive HR assets—mitigating the risk of data exposure through unauthorized access.

Primary Risk: Data exposure through unauthorized access to employee records

Relevant Regulation: ISO 27001 Information Security Standard

A thorough scan delivers immediate visibility, laying the foundation for automated policy enforcement and ongoing compliance.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • Snowflake ACCOUNTADMIN or SYSADMIN role
  • USAGE on databases and schemas
  • SELECT privileges on target tables

External Tools

  • Snowflake CLI or SnowSQL
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • API credentials

Prior Setup

  • Snowflake account provisioned
  • Network connectivity configured
  • Authentication method established
  • Warehouse access for scanning

Introducing Cyera

Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. By leveraging advanced AI and Named Entity Recognition (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies employee data patterns in Snowflake tables—including names, social security numbers, employee IDs, and HR records. This ensures you stay ahead of accidental exposures and meet ISO 27001 audit requirements in real time.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Configure your Snowflake connection

Create a dedicated service user with appropriate permissions and configure secure authentication using key-pair or OAuth.

CREATE USER cyera_scanner PASSWORD='...' DEFAULT_ROLE='SCANNER_ROLE';

2
Enable scanning workflows

In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → DSPM → Add new. Select Snowflake, provide your account URL and authentication details, then define the scan scope across databases and schemas.

3
Integrate with third-party tools

Configure webhooks or streaming exports to push scan results into your SIEM or Security Hub. Link findings to existing ticketing systems like Jira or ServiceNow for automated remediation workflows.

4
Validate results and tune policies

Review the initial detection report, prioritize tables with large volumes of employee data, and adjust detection rules to reduce false positives. Schedule recurring scans to maintain continuous visibility.

Architecture & Workflow

Snowflake Information Schema

Source of metadata for databases, schemas, and tables

Cyera Connector

Pulls metadata and samples data for classification

Cyera AI Engine

Applies NER models and detection algorithms

Reporting & Remediation

Dashboards, alerts, and automated workflows

Data Flow Summary

Enumerate Databases → Send to Cyera → Apply AI Detection → Route Findings

Best Practices & Tips

Performance Considerations

  • Use appropriate warehouse sizes for scanning
  • Implement sampling for very large tables
  • Schedule scans during off-peak hours

Tuning Detection Rules

  • Maintain allowlists for test environments
  • Adjust confidence thresholds for accuracy
  • Customize patterns for organization-specific data

Common Pitfalls

  • Forgetting shared databases and cross-account shares
  • Over-scanning transient or temporary tables
  • Neglecting to monitor warehouse costs during scans

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🔧 Fix: Remediate exposed employee data in Snowflake 🛡️ Prevent: Set up proactive employee data protection