SnowPro Advanced: Security Engineer Question 297
Single answerUse Snowflake Trust Center resources to support compliance and security:A security engineer is preparing evidence for an external audit of a Snowflake deployment that processes regulated customer data. The auditors want vendor-provided proof of Snowflake’s security and compliance posture, including independent attestations and current service security information, but they do not need account-specific configuration data. Which Snowflake resource should the engineer use first to efficiently gather this information?
- A
Snowflake Trust Center, to access security, privacy, compliance, and assurance resources published by Snowflake
- B
ACCOUNT_USAGE views, to export Snowflake’s SOC reports and compliance certifications for auditors
- C
Snowsight Query History, to demonstrate Snowflake’s internal control attestations and regional compliance status
- D
Access History, to retrieve Snowflake-managed audit reports and penetration test summaries
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The key distinction in this scenario is between evidence about the customer’s Snowflake account and evidence about Snowflake as a service provider. When auditors request vendor-provided security and compliance documentation such as certifications, attestations, privacy information, and service assurance materials, the Snowflake Trust Center is the appropriate starting point. By contrast, ACCOUNT_USAGE, Query History, and Access History are customer-account telemetry sources used for investigating activity, access, and governance within a Snowflake environment. Best practice is to use the Trust Center for Snowflake corporate security/compliance evidence and combine it with account-specific controls evidence only when auditors also request proof of the customer’s own Snowflake configuration and operations.
- A. Correct.
Correct. The Snowflake Trust Center is the primary Snowflake resource for published information about Snowflake’s security, privacy, compliance programs, certifications, attestations, and related assurance materials. In this scenario, the auditors want vendor-provided evidence about Snowflake itself rather than customer account telemetry or configuration details, so the Trust Center is the most efficient first place to gather that information.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. ACCOUNT_USAGE views contain metadata and telemetry about the customer’s Snowflake account usage, governance, security events, and object activity. They are useful for customer-side audit evidence, but they do not serve as the source for Snowflake corporate compliance certifications or independent attestations such as SOC reports.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Snowsight Query History helps investigate query execution and user activity within an account. It does not provide Snowflake’s official compliance documentation, service assurance reports, or vendor-level security posture materials. This option confuses operational monitoring with third-party assurance evidence.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Access History is an account-level feature for understanding data access and lineage-related activity in the customer environment. It is not a repository for Snowflake-issued compliance documents, external audit reports, or penetration testing summaries. This distractor reflects a common misunderstanding between account audit data and vendor assurance artifacts.