What is data encryption?

Encryption translates data into another form, or code, so that only people with access to a secret key or password can read it. Often, it is is automated as part of other processes within a data platform. The term has become more common with the rise of the cloud, and the subsequent need for advanced encryption technologies to protect data in transit and at rest on the internet. Data that is transferred or stored without being encrypted is at risk of being compromised at any time. Advanced cloud based technologies encrypt data automatically, from end-to-end, both in transit and at rest.

How Snowflake uses data encryption

Data encryption is a vital part of comprehensive security. Snowflake is designed to protect user data against attacks on all levels of the architecture, including the cloud platform. To this end, Snowflake implements two-factor authentication, (client-side) encrypted data import and export, secure data transfer and storage, and role-based access control for database objects. At all times, data is encrypted before being sent over the network, and before being written to local disk or shared storage (S3).

To learn more, check out our blog, Automatic Encryption of Data.