EFS provides a mechanism for encrypting files completely transparent to higher level applications such as SQL Server. In this article by Brian Kelley, he shows you how to implement this type of security in your environment.   Read more...

Arthur Fuller advises DBAs to try to break their software in order to make sure their SQL Server databases can withstand potential attacks. See if your code can hold up to his suggested tests.  Read more...

Security in SQL Server is not too complex, following a fairly simple framework for allowing and preventing access to data. However there are a few places where it can get tricky and some concepts that many people do not understand. Rob Farley brings us an explanation of one of those areas: ownership chaining. Read about how ownership chaining can be useful and also how it may open security holes in your environment.   Read more...

One of the major problems in the database field is when people store sensitive data unencrypted into SQL Server. This article shows you one of the most basic ways to encrypt data to the casual viewer.   Read more...

If you're performing a penetration test or higher-level security audit of your SQL Server systems, there's one test you must not miss. It seems obvious, but many people overlook it: SQL Server password testing. Given the inherent weaknesses compared with more secure Windows authentication, you should especially test for password flaws if you're using SQL Server authentication in mixed mode. Password testing will help you determine how easily others can break into your database and help you ensure SQL Server users are being responsible with their accounts.  Read more...

SQL Server 2005 builds some great encryption tools into the product, but what if you are stuck with SQL Server 2000? SQL Server expert Michael Coles brings us the first part of a series along with a free toolkit to manage encryption and keys.   Read more...

Free SQL Server 2000 Encryption for your data!!! Author Michael Coles has put together a tolljit and some XPs that you can use to encrypt your data with the Blowfish algorithm. It is hard to write good applications that encrpyt data and manage the keys and security. This will give you a great headstart on protecting your data.   Read more...

Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2000 is huge. There are significant changes in it and they apply to all three products: the core SQL Server, MSDE, and Analysis Services. Because there are so many changes, this first article in the series will only focus on the security changes.   Read more...

In part one Chris Kempster covered a variety of security recommendations primarily for production systems. In Part two of this series he continues to explore security at a variety of levels where you may not realize you are vulnerable.   Read more...

The problems caused by the SQL Sapphire Worm, also know as the SQL Slammer, have caused many sites to do a quick upgrade to SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3). It includes the fix that prevents infection by the worm. While moving to the latest service pack is usually a good thing, to do so without thorough testing risks breaking a working application. That is exactly what happened to one of my clients over the weekend.  Read more...

Auditing, analyzing and documenting your SQL Server installation is becoming more important all the time, especially as more and more attention is being paid to the security of your environment. Chad Miller brings us a look at a framework and a sample document you can use in your environment to conduct an audit.   Read more...

Do you know the difference between a login and a user? What's the best way to add them; Enterprise Manager, T-SQL, or SQL-DMO? In this beginner level article Andy demonstrates how to use all three methods to add logins and users and offers his view of which is the best technique.   Read more...

SQL injection has been a hot topic the last couple years and there are some great articles at SQLServerCentral.com on this topic. Michael Coles brings us an updated look at this SQL Server security issue with some new examples you might not have previously thought.   Read more...

As a DBA you do not need to know how to setup an Active Directory domain or a DNS server, but you still need to know how Kerberos, Service Principle Names, and hostnames are used to perform integrated authentication to a SQL Server. This article by new columnist Chad Miller shows you some of the more integral parts of troubleshooting running Windows Authentication security in a SQL Server environmnet.   Read more...

Free SQL Server 2000 Encryption for your data!!! Author Michael Coles has put together a tolljit and some XPs that you can use to encrypt your data with the Blowfish algorithm. It is hard to write good applications that encrpyt data and manage the keys and security. This will give you a great headstart on protecting your data.   Read more...

Securing your SQL Server can be an arduous task, but very rewarding. This article covers 10 steps to properly protecting your data.   Read more...

We have described, so far, authorization based on a predefined fixed server (determining a set of SQL server-wide privileges) and database (applying to database objects and activities) roles. We have also discussed application roles, which makes the level of permissions independent of those assigned to a SQL Server login or a database user account. Now it is time to look into permissions from the point of view of database objects. There are two main factors that play a role in determining how access rights to them are evaluated - their ownership and custom permissions. We will discuss the first one of these topics in this article and will continue with the other one in the next installment of this series.   Read more...

SQL Server does many things very well, but securing itself is not one of them. While securing your server requires some effort, there is an area that many people forget. Securing your backups! Brian Kelley, our resident security expert, brings some advice and ideas for ensuring your data will not be stolen.   Read more...

In this series of articles, Chris Kempster will discuss some of the finer aspects of SQL Server security and also touch on OS, physical and application security to open up this science for general discussion.   Read more...

The SQL Server 2000 security model is not the best one of all the RDBMS platforms and requires some work to secure properly. One of the practices that is recommended is removing the builtin/administrators group from accessing the SQL Server. New author Kathi Kellenberger shows us some of the pitfalls she encountered when removing this group from her servers.   Read more...