Twitter Adapter - JDBC error 403 - cannot find remote source: proxy

We are currently exploring SAP HANA Smart Data Streaming and have followed videos on SAP HANA Academy for getting started with the Twitter adapter. When we get to the point to test the connection from creating a new Remote Source we receive the following error:

SAP DBTech JDBC: [403]: internal error: Cannot get remote source objects: proxy

Our IT Admin had the following comment:

If both the HANA and Agent systems are on the same LAN w/o a firewall between then, then there shouldn't be a need for a proxy.

My questions:

Is there a way to get the Twitter Adapter to work with SAP HANA Smart Data Streaming that does not require a proxy to be setup?

If a proxy is required at all times to use this functionality, what is the reasoning.