Database security involves protecting information stored in a database from various threats, including hacking attempts, physical damage, improper coding, and data overload. Security measures include firewalls, encryption, auditing, and backup disks. Installing a firewall, encrypting data, auditing database access, and performing regular backups are all effective security measures.
Database security is the range of methods used to protect the information stored within a database. While hacking attempts are the most commonly thought of as a danger to database information, there are many other dangers. Physical damage to your computer, improper coding or corruption, and data overload are all potential threats to a database. This means that many security measures are usually in place, from firewalls to auditing and backup disks, to minimize any potential damage and prevent the loss of an entire database. Most companies have their own database security protocols to protect against specific attacks and potential damage.
Installing a database firewall, a protective barrier that keeps all unknown connections at bay, is the most basic form of database security. Firewalls are installed on most computers and are designed so that hackers have a hard time connecting to the victim’s computer. Firewalls work by filtering connections across the network and allowing only trusted computers or users to access the database. While skilled hackers can get around this, a firewall provides a high level of security.
Encryption is another database security measure where the data is encrypted or made unreadable for anyone accessing the database. When encryption is used, an algorithm scrambles the characters into nonsense, so they can’t be read. This means that unless the hacker has specific knowledge of the encryption key, the information needed to change the encrypted data from unreadable characters to a readable format, there is no way he can read the database.
Auditing is when a supervisor, or database manager, scans the database to make sure nothing has changed. This type of database security can be done physically, by someone reading into the database, or by using a program for larger databases to see if the encryption is the same. Auditing can also include auditing database access and viewing what employees did when they accessed the database. This prevents data theft or, at least, allows administrators to find out who committed the data theft.
Performing a database backup is a database security measure that protects against many different threats. When the database is backed up, this means that the data is stored in another area or medium. If the database loses any or all of the information, it can be readily restarted with minimal loss using backup. By backing up the database, administrators are able to protect themselves from physical damage to the computer such as fire, database corruption, or database overload.
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