Brian Kelley

Brian Kelley is an author, columnist, and Microsoft SQL Server MVP focusing primarily on SQL Server security. He is a contributing author for How to Cheat at Securing SQL Server 2005 (Syngress), Professional SQL Server 2008 Administration (Wrox), and Introduction to SQL Server (Texas Publishing). Brian currently serves as an infrastructure and security architect. He has also served as a senior Microsoft SQL Server DBA, database architect, developer, and incident response team lead.

Interests: Chess, Reading, Soccer (Football), Baseball, Animals, Theology

All authors

#tsql2sday – A Letter to My 20 Year-Old Self

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Self, I am writing this to you in my mid 40s. I know when I was 20, I wasn’t thinking about 30, much less 40. Here’s some advice I’d...

2019-06-11

39 reads

Building Your Brand Right

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I was interviewed yesterday by Stephen Wynkoop (twitter) for the upcoming SSWUG Virtual Conference on May 23rd. One of the questions was about how to keep management engaged on...

2019-06-07 (first published: 2019-05-21)

481 reads

Mitre’s ATT&CK Security Framework

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Mitre’s ATT&CK security framework was mentioned often at the Techno Security and Digital Forensics Conference. I admit that I’m not well-versed on it, yet. However, its purpose makes sense....

2019-06-07

55 reads

Sysinternals – A Swiss Army Knife for IT Pros

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I’m at the Techno Security and Digital Forensics conference in Myrtle Beach again this year. I sat in on a presentation about performing malware analysis. The analyst began with...

2019-06-06

452 reads

Security Controls: CISA vs. CISSP

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

When looking at the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam, we focus on teaching 3 types of controls: Preventative – keeps an incident from occurring Detective – Identifies the...

2019-06-04

305 reads

Mini-Rant: Spoofed Phone Numbers and Trust

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I’ve seen this more and more over the last year: I receive a phone call with a number that indicates it’s coming from a town or city near me....

2019-05-24

191 reads

Same Webcast, New Name: Introduction to Auditing Features in SQL Server

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I’m giving another webcast through MSSQLTips.com. This one is on May 9, 2019, at 3 PM EDT. It’s called Introduction to Auditing Features in SQL Server. We renamed it...

2019-05-07

24 reads

Midlands PASS – Next Meeting and Summit Discount Code

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Midlands PASS is an official PASS chapter located in Columbia, SC, USA. Here’s an update about our schedule, as well as the PASS discount code. No May or June...

2019-05-06

67 reads

Webcast: Auditing SQL Server from the Ground Up

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I’m giving another webcast through MSSQLTips.com. This one is on May 9, 2019, at 3 PM EDT. It’s called Auditing SQL Server from the Ground Up. You can register...

2019-05-01

36 reads

CISA Accredited Trainer!

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

My certification came in! I’m now accredited to provide training for the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) certification. It’s not the Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) accreditation I once had...

2019-04-23

35 reads

All authors

Brian Kelley

#tsql2sday – A Letter to My 20 Year-Old Self

Building Your Brand Right

Mitre’s ATT&CK Security Framework

Sysinternals – A Swiss Army Knife for IT Pros

Security Controls: CISA vs. CISSP

Mini-Rant: Spoofed Phone Numbers and Trust

Same Webcast, New Name: Introduction to Auditing Features in SQL Server

Midlands PASS – Next Meeting and Summit Discount Code

Webcast: Auditing SQL Server from the Ground Up

CISA Accredited Trainer!

Blogs

Questions and Answers from Running a Local LLM

Overview of Claude AI Models: Which One to Choose?

Houston AI-Lytics 2026–Powerpoint Slides

Forums

A question about how to store the address in the database

SSIS package failing intermittently on last Excel Component

T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: JSON_ARRAYAGG

Question of the Day

Multiple Sequence Values