There was a forum discussion a few years back on how to prevent users from changing their SQL Server account passwords.

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/237e5b91-c5ca-49b1-980b-1e0429279231/prevent-sql-login-password-change?forum=sqlsecurity

Consider something like the following. What it does it create...

The concepts of a corporate retirement pension or even seniority based on years of service are practically nonexistent here in the US, least of all within the IT industry. Our...

... The plan was to have the master copy of the database at the Admin office, and each remote location would have its own copy of the database on SQL...

Eric M Russell (2/25/2016)

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Even if the data I lost was important to me, I would not pay the ransom, because there it's entirely plausible that it's part of a scheme...

Gary Varga (3/22/2016)

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Me too. I have been...

Over the past decade, the bar has been raised regarding requirements for a DBA or data professional. That's good, but perhaps we need to reach out and be better mentors.

Also, consider setting up an Audit trace on account password changes.

http://www.toadworld.com/platforms/sql-server/w/wiki/10429.tracking-password-changes

Does the application normally login using the 'SA' account or using another account with SYSADMIN privillage? A user can change the password on any account for which they can login,...

HR and management like canned pop quiz style technical interviews (ie: What is a clustered index?), because they are straightforward, and they can add up the scores and easily stack...

There are some DMV functions that will return cached exection plans, including number of executions, min, max, avg runtime, resource consumption, etc. but the problem is that not all queries...

I believe there is an important role for "New Men" in IT, so long as you're referring to the smart and adaptable type who graduated from university with an MBA,...

The only users who automatically have access to all databases are members of the SYSADMIN role. For non-sysadmin users, you must create their account in a database. To faciliate the...

SQL Server running on Linux is interesting and a step forward, but SQL Server running on bare metal would be an even bolder move.

Eirikur Eiriksson (3/18/2016)

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Easy enough, if differential backups are consistently 0 in content and no connections are made...

Once you've identified what you believe to be a list of databases no longer used, then set the database option 'Restrict Access' for each to RESTRICTED_USER mode (default is MULTI_USER),...