Comparison Matrix

The following matrix compares two approaches to securing sensitive data within Snowflake environments. It evaluates the real-world effectiveness of each against insider threats, credential compromise, and operational and integration considerations.

Ubiq Security = Ubiq’s identity-driven encryption, tokenization, and masking platform (with native Snowflake integration via UDFs / brokered external functions assumed).

Snowflake Native Controls = Built-in Snowflake security features such as RBAC, masking policies (Dynamic Data Masking), row access policies, tag-based masking policies, External Tokenization (masking policies + external functions), network policies, encryption at rest, and Tri‑Secret Secure.

Summary Matrix

Security Dimension	Ubiq Security Platform (Identity-Driven Data Protection)	Snowflake Native Security Controls (RBAC & Built-in Features)
Protection Against Internal Threats	High – Data remains encrypted at the field level; even Snowflake admins or platform operators cannot see plaintext without IAM-based authorization. Encryption logic and key governance are external to Snowflake.	Low – Assumes trusted privileged roles. Snowflake enforces access through RBAC, masking, and row policies, but once a role is authorized or policies are altered, plaintext can be returned to that session. No independent cryptographic barrier against privileged misuse.
Protection Against Credential Compromise	High – Requires valid Ubiq authentication and authorization in addition to Snowflake access. Stolen Snowflake credentials alone are insufficient to decrypt protected fields.	Low – Any valid role entitled to view or detokenize data can retrieve plaintext at query time. Masking and tokenization reduce blast radius only if policies remain intact.
Granularity of Access Control	Fine-Grained – Field- or value-level encryption and tokenization per identity; supports least-privilege access via external IAM policy enforcement.	High / Logical Only – Provides RBAC, row access policies, masking policies, tag-based masking, and External Tokenization. Enforcement is policy-driven at query time, not cryptographic per-identity segmentation of stored data.
Runtime Enforcement (Context-Aware)	Yes – Real-time, external IAM validation for each decrypt operation; authorization can be re-evaluated per request.	Partial – Row access and masking policies enforced at query runtime; once results are returned to an authorized role, data is plaintext for that session and can be exported or copied.
Integration Effort & Performance Overhead	Moderate Effort / Low Overhead – Requires enabling encrypt/decrypt via Snowflake UDFs and integration components; cryptographic work is limited to sensitive fields only.	Low Effort / Variable Overhead – Native configuration via RBAC and policies. External Tokenization uses external functions and introduces network dependency and query-time latency.
Coverage of Data Types	Broad – Protects sensitive data at the record and file level; protection is designed to persist as data moves beyond Snowflake.	Narrow – Strong controls for data accessed through Snowflake queries; protections generally end once data is exported or moved outside Snowflake’s enforcement boundary.
Key Management	Strong / Externalized – Data Encryption Keys remain in customer infrastructure; primary keys protected in FIPS-validated HSMs; key release tied to explicit policy approval.	Strong at-Rest / Platform-Managed – All data encrypted by default with hierarchical keys. Optional dual-key models provide additional at-rest control but decrypt automatically for authorized queries.
IAM Integration	Full Integration – Enterprise IAM roles and attributes directly govern decryption access.	Partial – IAM used for authentication and role mapping; data access decisions enforced primarily through Snowflake RBAC and in-platform policies.
Overall Security Posture	Comprehensive and Identity-Driven – Protects data at rest, in motion, and in use with continuous IAM policy enforcement.	Governance-Focused – Strong for access control, auditing, and compliance, but limited cryptographic protection against insiders or credential-based threats once a role is authorized.

Detailed Matrix

The following matrix contrasts Ubiq’s identity-centric data protection with Snowflake’s built-in security controls (such as RBAC, masking policies, row access policies, External Tokenization, encryption at rest, and Tri‑Secret Secure) across critical security dimensions:

Security Dimension	Ubiq Security Platform (Identity-Driven Data Protection)	Snowflake Native Security Controls (RBAC & Built-in Features)
Protection Against Internal Threats (e.g., rogue admins or engineers)	High: Data remains encrypted at the field or column level unless accessed via an authorized identity through Ubiq. Even Snowflake administrators or platform operators cannot retrieve plaintext sensitive data without passing Ubiq’s external IAM-governed decryption process. Encryption keys and decrypt authorization are governed outside Snowflake. Result: Direct table queries, clones, or exports return ciphertext for protected fields unless Ubiq explicitly authorizes decryption.	Low: Snowflake relies on in-platform access controls and policy enforcement. RBAC, masking policies, row access policies, and External Tokenization reduce exposure but operate entirely within Snowflake’s trust boundary. A sufficiently privileged role or policy change can yield plaintext at query time. Result: The platform assumes trusted administrators and does not provide an independent cryptographic barrier against insider misuse.
Protection Against Credential Compromise (e.g., leaked user credentials or service roles)	High: Stolen Snowflake credentials alone are insufficient to decrypt protected data. An attacker who compromises a Snowflake user, service role, or workload still cannot access plaintext without valid Ubiq authorization. Result: Credential theft does not automatically equate to exposure of sensitive fields, significantly reducing breach blast radius.	Low: If compromised credentials belong to a role entitled to view or detokenize data, Snowflake will return plaintext at query runtime. Masking and tokenization only limit exposure if policies remain correctly configured. Result: Stolen credentials can directly lead to plaintext access within permitted scopes.
Granularity of Access Control	Fine-Grained: Ubiq applies encryption and tokenization at the field or value level and governs decryption per identity. Different users querying the same dataset can see different representations of the data based on IAM policy. Result: Strong least-privilege enforcement with cryptographic separation tied to identity.	Fine-Grained (Policy-Based): Snowflake provides table-, row-, and column-level controls using RBAC, row access policies, masking policies, tags, and External Tokenization. Enforcement is logical and handled by the query engine rather than identity-bound encryption of stored data. Result: High governance granularity, but not cryptographic isolation per user.
Runtime Enforcement (context-aware access in use)	Strong, Context-Aware: Every decrypt request is validated at runtime against identity and policy. If a user’s permissions change, subsequent decrypt operations fail immediately without re-encrypting data or modifying Snowflake objects. Result: Continuous enforcement during data use, not just at query start.	Limited: Authorization occurs at query execution time. Once approved, data is decrypted within the session and remains available for the duration of execution. Result: No continuous re-evaluation or external key-release control during use.
Integration Effort & Performance Overhead	Moderate Integration, Low Overhead: Requires enabling encrypt and decrypt via Snowflake UDFs for sensitive fields. Cryptographic operations are targeted and do not impact non-sensitive analytics. Result: Modest setup with minimal performance impact in practice.	Low Integration, Variable Overhead: Native controls are configuration-driven. Row policies, masking, and External Tokenization add query-time evaluation and can constrain optimization. Result: Easier to adopt, but with runtime overhead and reliance on policy hygiene.
Data Type Coverage (structured, semi-structured, files, streams)	Broad: Designed to protect structured, semi-structured, unstructured, and streaming data. Protection can persist when data is exported or consumed by downstream systems. Result: Encryption travels with the data beyond Snowflake.	Platform-Bound: Strong protection for data accessed through Snowflake queries. Once data is exported or copied outside the platform, native protections no longer apply. Result: Enforcement ends at the Snowflake boundary.
Key Management Model	Externalized and Granular: Encryption keys are managed outside Snowflake and released only upon explicit authorization. Keys can be scoped per dataset or field and revoked without disrupting platform operations. Result: Strong separation of duties between compute access and decryption authority.	Platform-Managed: Keys are managed and applied transparently by Snowflake. Advanced options strengthen at-rest protection but decrypt automatically for authorized queries. Result: Strong storage security, but no per-identity decrypt approval.
IAM Compatibility (enterprise integration and least privilege)	Full: Decryption is directly governed by enterprise IAM roles and attributes. Revoking a role immediately removes decrypt capability. Result: Centralized identity policy extends to cryptographic data access.	Partial: IAM governs authentication and role mapping. Data access decisions rely on Snowflake RBAC and policies rather than external IAM approval per decrypt. Result: Identity controls stop at platform authorization.

Explanatory Notes and Key Insights

Encryption at Rest vs Runtime Threats
Snowflake encrypts all customer data by default using strong AES encryption with a hierarchical key model rooted in a cloud-provider-hosted hardware security module (HSM), with automatic key rotation and optional rekeying. However, Snowflake still decrypts data when it is transformed or operated on, and re-encrypts it when operations are complete—meaning authorized query execution can still yield plaintext in-session results.

Ubiq addresses the runtime gap by encrypting sensitive data elements individually before they are persisted, so protected fields remain ciphertext unless the decryption request is explicitly authorized through Ubiq’s identity- and policy-governed controls. This provides protection at rest and during active use, including when credentials are compromised.

Governance vs Encryption Granularity
Snowflake provides strong governance primitives—RBAC/DAC, masking policies (Dynamic Data Masking), row access policies, and tag-based masking policies—to shape what a given role can see at query time. External Tokenization can further reduce exposure by storing tokenized values and detokenizing only at query runtime through masking policies that call external functions.

These controls are powerful, but they operate within Snowflake’s trust boundary and depend on correct role design, policy administration, and secure configuration of integrations that enable detokenization or access.
Ubiq complements Snowflake by decoupling enforcement from Snowflake’s role-based trust model: encryption/decryption flows through Ubiq’s external authorization path, enabling true field-level protection where ciphertext persists (and remains meaningful) even when data is exported or accessed through downstream tools.

Runtime and Context Enforcement
Snowflake enforces masking policies at query time and uses row access policies to filter visible rows; when both are present, Snowflake evaluates the row access policy first. These are strong query-time controls, but once results are returned, they can be copied, exported, or moved outside Snowflake where those policies no longer apply.

Ubiq introduces runtime identity verification on every decrypt request. Keys are not released automatically: decryption happens only when the Ubiq policy permits it, enabling continuous, “always-verify” enforcement for protected fields even within active sessions.

Credential Compromise and Kill Switch
Snowflake relies on roles, credentials, and governed policy objects to authorize access. If an attacker compromises a user or service role that is entitled to see plaintext (or to detokenize via External Tokenization), Snowflake can return plaintext at query time within the permissions of that compromised identity. Network policies and least-privilege RBAC reduce the blast radius, but they do not inherently add a second, independent decryption gate.

Ubiq adds that independent gate: even with Snowflake access, decrypting protected fields requires Ubiq authorization. Administrators can revoke decryption privileges at the user/role/dataset level in Ubiq (or via enterprise IAM alignment), providing a granular “kill switch” for sensitive fields without disabling the entire Snowflake environment.

Integration and Performance
Snowflake’s built-in controls (RBAC, masking, row policies, tags) are largely configuration-driven and transparent to query authors once deployed. External Tokenization relies on external functions, where Snowflake sends data through a proxy service (e.g., API Gateway) to a remote service and back, introducing network dependency and query-time overhead for detokenization paths.

Ubiq requires modest setup to enable encryption/decryption natively in SQL (UDFs and routing/broker components). Once installed, teams apply ubiq_encrypt() and ubiq_decrypt() only to sensitive fields, keeping the rest of analytics unchanged. Performance impact is therefore targeted to protected fields and depends on factors such as caching and external authorization calls.

Key Management and Trust Separation
Snowflake-managed encryption provides strong at-rest protection with automatic key rotation and a hierarchical key model. Tri-Secret Secure adds an additional layer of control using a dual-key model together with Snowflake authentication, offering security and control above standard encryption.

Ubiq externalizes key governance: Data Encryption Keys are stored within the customer’s infrastructure alongside the encrypted data and are never transmitted to Ubiq, while Primary Encryption Keys are stored within FIPS 140-2 Level-3 compliant HSMs in Ubiq’s SaaS infrastructure. This separation of duties ensures that Snowflake platform access alone does not equate to decryption capability for protected fields.

Summary

Snowflake’s native controls (RBAC/DAC access control, Dynamic Data Masking, row access policies, tag-based masking, External Tokenization via external functions, network policies, encryption by default, and optional Tri-Secret Secure) provide strong governance, visibility, and at-rest protection. These features are highly effective for controlling and auditing access through Snowflake queries, but they do not inherently provide an independent, externalized “decrypt approval” path: once a role is entitled to see plaintext (or detokenize), Snowflake can return it at query time within that session’s permitted scope.

Ubiq complements Snowflake by applying identity-driven encryption, tokenization, and masking directly to selected sensitive fields with externalized key governance tied to enterprise policy. Decryption occurs only when a verified user or workload is authorized by Ubiq at runtime, so protected fields can remain encrypted even when Snowflake credentials are compromised or when data is accessed across downstream tools. The result is stronger insider-threat and credential-compromise resistance, protection that can travel with the data, and alignment with Zero Trust principles for high-sensitivity “crown jewel” fields.

References
Snowflake: Overview of Access Control (DAC/RBAC)
Snowflake: Understanding Dynamic Data Masking
Snowflake: Understanding Row Access Policies
Snowflake: Tag-based masking policies
Snowflake: Understanding External Tokenization
Snowflake: Introduction to external functions (API integrations)
Snowflake: Step 2 — Create the proxy service (Amazon API Gateway) for external functions
Snowflake: Access History
Snowflake: Controlling network traffic with network policies
Snowflake: Understanding Encryption Key Management
Snowflake: Understanding end-to-end encryption
Snowflake: Tri-Secret Secure
Snowflake: Overview of federated authentication and SSO

Ubiq: Snowflake Integration Overview
Ubiq: Snowflake Integration (UDFs / Snowpark deployment)
Ubiq: FAQ — Where are my encryption keys stored?
Ubiq: Event Logs
Ubiq: Security History Logs