ARA-C01 Accounts and Security Practice Question
Which TWO of the following are true regarding the use of Snowflake Data Shares for security purposes?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers often assume data sharing copies data into the consumer's storage, missing the zero-copy architecture of Snowflake secure shares.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Data shares eliminate the need for data duplication.
Data Shares provide a secure way to share data without copying it. The provider account retains full control over the data objects, and the consumer account gets read-only access. This architecture is inherently more secure than traditional ETL-based data transfer methods because it eliminates the movement of data, reduces the risk of data leakage during transit, and ensures that the consumer is always querying the most up-to-date version of the data provided by the source.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Data shares allow consumers to write back to the source.
Why it's wrong here
Data sharing in Snowflake is strictly read-only for the consumer. This design ensures that the provider's data integrity is maintained, as the consumer cannot execute DML operations like INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE on the shared objects. This unidirectional control is fundamental to the security of the data sharing model.
- ✓
Data shares eliminate the need for data duplication.
Why this is correct
Sharing data via Snowflake's secure sharing mechanism means the consumer accesses the provider's data directly in the provider's account. This avoids creating copies of sensitive data, which is a major security improvement over traditional methods like SFTP or cloud storage dumps that increase the organization's data attack surface.
- ✗
Data shares automatically copy data to the consumer.
Why it's wrong here
Data sharing does not involve copying or moving data. The consumer account references the provider's data objects using metadata-level access. Copying data would defeat the primary security benefit of sharing, which is maintaining a single source of truth and preventing the uncontrolled proliferation of sensitive data across multiple accounts.
- ✓
The provider can revoke access at any time.
Why this is correct
The provider maintains full control over the share and can revoke access instantly by dropping the share or removing the consumer account from the share. This provides an immediate and effective mechanism to stop data access if security concerns arise, which is a critical capability for managing vendor risks.
- ✗
Shares require public internet access.
Why it's wrong here
Snowflake data shares use the platform's secure internal communication channels. They do not require the data to be exposed to the public internet. Access is controlled by Snowflake's secure access mechanisms, ensuring that the shared data remains protected within the platform's secure boundary during the entire communication process.
About these practice questions
This ARA-C01 question is part of Courseiva's 209-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Snowflake exam blueprint
This ARA-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Snowflake certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ARA-C01 exam.