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Database Security – Database Monitoring
A database is a collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. For a database to be functional, it must not only store large amounts of records well, but be accessed easily. Moreover new information and changes should also be fairly easy to input. In order to have a highly efficient database system, you need to incorporate a program that manages the queries and information stored on the system. This is referred to as DBMS or a Database Management System. Besides these features, all databases that are created should be built with high data integrity and the ability to recover data if hardware fails.
Here are just a few of the actions that you can perform on a database that would be difficult if not impossible to perform on a spreadsheet.
- Retrieve all records that match certain criteria
- Update record in bulk
- Cross-reference records in different tables
- Perform complex aggregate calculations.
Types of Databases
There are several common types of databases; each type of database has its own data model or structure. They are
Flat Model: This is a two dimensional array of data
Hierarchical Model: The hierarchical model database resembles a tree like structure
Network Model: This is that a record is stored with a link to other records
Relational Model: The relational model is the most popular type of database and an extremely powerful tool, not only to store information, but to access it as well. Relational databases are organized as tables. The beauty of a table is that the information can be accessed or added without reorganizing the tables
Relational databases use a program interface called SQL or Standard Query Language.
Organizing / Storing a Database
Database normalization is the process of organizing data into distinct and unique sets.
The purposes of normalization are to:
* Reduce or eliminate storage of duplicate data
* Organize data into an efficient and logical structure
The process of normalization involves determining what data should be stored in each database table. The process of normalization involves working through well-defined steps, called normal forms.
Databases can be less than 1 MB or extremely large and complicated that can be terabytes, however all databases are usually stored and located on hard disk or other types of storage devices and are accessed via computer.
Accessing Information Using a Database
While storing data is a great feature of databases, for many database users the most important feature is quick and simple retrieval of information. In a relational database, it is extremely easy to pull up information regarding an employee, but relational databases also add the power of running queries. Queries are requests to pull specific types of information and either show them in their natural state or create a report using the data.
Securing a Database
Obviously, many databases store confidential and important information that should not be easily accessed by just anyone. Many databases require passwords and other security features in order to access the information. While some databases can be accessed via the Internet through a network, other databases are closed systems and can only be accessed on site. Securing the database has become simpler. A few straightforward steps can vastly improve security, usually by locking out all users except applications and DBAs.
But even that restriction doesn’t completely protect your data. One of the primary security breaches organizations experience today takes place via applications that connect to databases. Applications don’t use native database security. Instead, they access the database as a “super user” and, therefore, could represent a risk to data security.
Some of the most common examples of exploiting this risk is known as SQL injection Database Worms, Denial of Service, Buffer overflow.
SQL injection isn’t a direct attack on the database. Instead, it takes advantage of the way many Web applications that access databases are developed. SQL Injection attempts to modify the parameters passed to a Web application via a Web form to change the resulting SQL statements that are passed to the database and compromise its security. If successful, an attacker can hijack the database server and be granted the same permissions to add, drop, and change users that the application has. From that point, the database is fully exposed.
Unfortunately, the practice of SQL injection is easy to learn. Fortunately, with a little forethought, you can prevent it. The simplest way to find out if you’re vulnerable to an SQL-injection attack is to enter a single quote into each field on each form in your applications and verify the results. Some applications will return a message claiming a syntax error. Some applications will catch the error and not report anything. In both of these cases, your site has some protection from SQL injection, but don’t assume it’s secure. You can only validate your level of protection by going to the application’s source code
The Future of Security
A new security trend is to provide multiple layers of security within a computing environment. These layers can include multiple firewalls between the Internet and the organization and even firewalls within an organization to protect high-value assets.
No Better Time
Security considerations go far beyond the database. But the database should be one of the most protected elements of any business environment; after all, it usually holds the most valuable and mission-critical knowledge. With a few simple tasks, you can reduce security risk to a reasonable level. You can start by reading more: network white papers.
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Tags: database
Posted in SQL Server · December 20th, 2009 · Comments (0)
So what is Application Virtualization anyway? That’s a good question. Virtualization is the act of using virtual servers or software, to reduce the amount of physical servers needed to power an organization’s IT infrastructure. With that said, virtualization cuts costs by reducing energy consumption and server room cooling expenses. This article, originally written by Matt Peterson, will explain Application Virtualization and Server Virtualization in full detail. More:
There is a lot of buzz going around about Virtualization. What is Virtualization, and what benefits does it provide? In this article we will take a look at the technology to see how it can provide a great deal of flexibility and cost effectiveness for IT professionals and software developers.
Virtualization technology allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single host computer. These virtual machines can run different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux and UNIX. Each virtual machine has its own set of virtual hardware resources (e.g., CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, etc) allowing the operating system to run as if it were installed on a physical machine.
The benefits of Virtualization technology are far reaching. Many organizations have moved to the virtual machine solution to consolidate multiple servers, running side by side on a single physical machine. Server consolidation allows IT professionals to fully utilize server resources, while isolating virtual machines and allowing them to run different operating systems and applications. Software developers utilize virtual machine technology to quickly test applications on different operating systems, without the hassle of setting up multiple physical machines for testing or taking the risk of causing problems by testing in a production environment.
You can run Virtualization software on pretty much any platform. Once the software is installed it is simple to create virtual machine instances. Virtual machines are just a set of files located on the host machine. You configure your virtual machine settings on the host computer, install the operating system and you are ready to go. It is a very common practice to use a master image of a virtual machine. This master image can be a fully configured machine, with the operating system and all required applications installed. You can then rapidly deploy virtual machines by copying the master image to multiple Virtualization hosts to provide zero downtime and 100% server availability.
There are a number of Virtualization products available. VMWare, which is probably the most popular, recently announced that it will be releasing a free version of its GSX Server product. This will allow any organization to host virtual machines on either Windows or Linux hosts. Other Virtualization products include Microsoft’s Virtual Server and SWsoft’s Virtuozzo, just to name a few.
Matt Peterson is a Senior Consultant for N2 Network Solutions, a leader in Arizona IT Support, providing IT Outsourcing and VMWare Consulting: n2networksolutions.com
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Tags: information technology
Posted in SQL Server · December 16th, 2009 · Comments (0)