Every company needs places to store institutional knowledge and data.

Frequently that data contains proprietary information› Personally Identifiable Data› Employee HR Data› Financial Data

The security and confidentiality of this data is of critical importance.

There are four key issues in the security of databases just as with all security systems

› Availability› Authenticity› Integrity› Confidentiality

Data needs to be available at all necessary times

Data needs to be available to only the appropriate users

Need to be able to track who has access to and who has accessed what data

Need to ensure that the data has been edited by an authorized source

Need to confirm that users accessing the system are who they say they are

Need to verify that all report requests are from authorized users

Need to verify that any outbound data is going to the expected receiver

Need to verify that any external data has the correct formatting and other metadata

Need to verify that all input data is accurate and verifiable

Need to ensure that data is following the correct work flow rules for your institution/corporation

Need to be able to report on all data changes and who authored them to ensure compliance with corporate rules and privacy laws.

Need to ensure that confidential data is only available to correct people

Need to ensure that entire database is security from external and internal system breaches

Need to provide for reporting on who has accessed what data and what they have done with it

Mission critical and Legal sensitive data must be highly security at the potential risk of lost business and litigation

Although the 4 pillars are of equal importance we are focusing on Confidentiality due to the prevalence of data loss in financial and personal areas

We are going to review solutions for› Internal data loss› External hacking› Securing data if hardware stolen› Unapproved Administrator Access

Another set of security issues come from middleware that sits between the user and the data

Single sign on authentication› Allows users to just have one password to

access all systems but also means that the theft of one password endangers all systems

Most companies have several types of databases so to ensure total security across databases they hire 3rd party Database Security

Those companies have solutions for Database Activity Monitoring (DAM)

Prices range from $20K to $1 Million

Another option is data masking – buying a fake data set for development and testing.

Vendors such as Oracle, Microsoft and IBM know that security is a big concern for data systems.\

They create built in solutions such as:› Password Controls› Data access based on roles and profiles› IP restrictions for off site access› Auditing capabilities of who has run what reports› Security logging

Solution Description

Pros Cons

Complex Passwords (require numbers and symbols) as well as frequent password changes

Makes passwords harder to guess and harder to crack

Users write them down and keep them next to computer or forget and need multiple resets

Keep Internal and External facing databases separate

Makes it very hard to hack one and then get through to the other

Reduces functionality of databases and restricts flow of internal data

Restrict Downloading Keeps data in the database and not loose in excel, etc

Restricts reporting capabilities and off line functionality

Restrict Unwanted Connections

Again makes it harder to worm from one system to another

Makes integration more difficult and can reduce user acceptance

SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language)

SAML is the standard that is used for Single Sign On functionality

If not in use blocks the usage of single sign on