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

SC Midlands Chapter of ISACA - SQL Server Auditing Course Materials

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

If you attended my SQL Server Auditing course held for the SC Midlands Chapter of ISACA, I finally was able...

2012-03-09

1,332 reads

T-SQL Tuesday #028 - I'm a Jack of All Trades, and Proud of It

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

If I wasn't, would I have proposed the following topic for several speaking chances, including SQLRally?

Being a specialist means you're...

2012-03-06

1,227 reads

Speaking at oPASS on March 8th

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I will be at oPASS on March 8th (Thursday) in Orlando, Florida. I'll give a preview of the talk I'm giving...

2012-03-01

1,030 reads

New Article: Exploiting SQL Server via CONTROL SERVER permissions

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I have a new article up at MSSQLTips.com, covering what someone can do with CONTROL SERVER. Most folks know to...

2012-02-27

1,735 reads

Presenting Two Sessions at SQLRally

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I just received great news that one of my sessions, Attacking SQL Server, was picked by the community for SQLRally....

2012-02-27

980 reads

A Plea: Have your guidance documentation reviewed

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Today one of my auditors sent me her matrix for auditing Microsoft SQL Server. I had seen part of it...

2012-02-23

1,229 reads

Two Sessions Up for Vote at SQLRally!

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I received great news last week that one of my sessions, Windows Operating System Internals for DB Pros, was accepted,...

2012-02-21

857 reads

USB/Flash Drive Security

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Gone are the days when remote drives were easy to detect because there was some size to them. Nowadays USB...

2012-02-15 (first published: 2012-02-13)

2,211 reads

See You at SQL Saturday!

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I've been asked this question a few times, and Columbia, SC isn't hosting a SQL Saturday this year. Bobby Dimmick...

2012-02-13

1,176 reads

Discuss

Slides and Scripts from Idera February webcast

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

For those who've asked, here are the slides and scripts from my SQL Server auditing webinar with Idera:

Presentation (.PDF)Scripts (.ZIP)
If...

2012-02-10

1,039 reads

Discuss

Blogs

“We love to debate minutiae”

By Brian Kelley

I am guilty as charged. The quote was in reference to how people argue...

Advice I Like: Knots

Learn how to tie a bowline knot. Practice in the dark. With one hand....

Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency

As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...

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Forums

Windows logins for users migrated from DomainA to DomainB

Hi, I have a SQL Server instance where users connect to via Windows Authentication,...

Multiple Deployment Processes

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Deployment Processes

How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases

Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Use sqlpackage to...

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Question of the Day

Upgrading Admin Queries

I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?

See possible answers