What Exactly is Database Security?
Tags: security, beginners, opensource, startup
Published: 2022-09-13 09:14:49

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To protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data, you need database security. But, what exactly is database security? Why is it important? This blog is all about data security. Learn about the complexities of database security and some of the practices, policies, and technologies of database security.

So, let's get started!

**What is Database Security?**
Database security means the collective methods used to protect and secure a database or database management software from misuse and malicious cyber threats and attacks.

Database security procedures are not just useful in protecting the data inside the database, but also the database management system and all the applications that access it from intrusion, misuse of data, and damage.

It is a broad term that is the mixture of a multitude of processes, tools, and methodologies that ensure security within a database environment.

Database security includes as well as enforces security on all aspects and components of databases. This includes:

- Data stored in the database.
- Database server.
- Database management system (DBMS).
- Other database workflow applications.

Database administrators or any other information security professional generally plan, implement and maintain the database security.

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**Reasons to have Database Security**

**Compromised intellectual property**
To maintain competitive benefits in the market, your intellectual property such as trade secrets, inventions, proprietary practices may be critical to your ability. It may be difficult or impossible to maintain or recover competitive advantage if that intellectual property is stolen or exposed.

**Damage to brand reputation**
If the Customers or partners do not feel that they can trust you with your data protection they may be not willing to buy your products or services or do any business with your organization.

**Business continuity**
Until breach is resolved, few businesses cannot continue to operate.

**Fines or penalties for non-compliance**
When you fail to comply with global regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SAO) or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), industry-specific data privacy regulations such as HIPAA, or regional data privacy regulations, such as Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the financial impact can be devastating, with fines in the worst cases exceeding several million dollars per violation.

**Costs of repairing breaches and notifying customers**
In addition to the cost of communicating a breach to a customer, a breached organization must pay for forensic and investigative activities, crisis management, triage, repair of the affected systems, and more.

**Database Security Threats**
The occurrence of breaches are the results of many software vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, or patterns of misuse or carelessness. The most famous causes and types of database security cyber threats are the following:

**Insider Threats**
Following are the sources which are the main reason for an insider threat each of which has privileged means of entry to the database. It is a security risk.

- A malicious insider with false intentions
- A negligent person within the organization who exposes the database to attack through careless actions
- An outsider who obtains credentials through social engineering or other methods, or gains access to the database's credentials

An insider threat is one of the most typical causes of database security breaches and it often occurs because a lot of employees have been granted privileged user access.

**Human Error**
Human errors are the cause of almost half of the data threats reported. It includes various errors such as weak passwords, password sharing, accidental erasure or corruption of data, and other undesirable user behaviors.

**Ransomware**
In any of the company's cybersecurity planning, Ransomware is a top priority. It directly affects the data security if not considered the highest priority. The computer of the victim is affected by malware that encrypts important files, or entire devices in a ransomware attack. This makes it impossible for victims to use the equipment and data. Ransomware demands ransom from a victim to regain access to the device or data.

The techniques of ransomware are evolving rapidly and it is becoming a huge global business for cybercriminals.

**Buffer overflow exploitations**
Buffer overflow occurs when a process attempts to write more data to a fixed-length block of memory than it is allowed to hold. Attackers may use the excess data, stored in adjacent memory addresses, as a foundation from which to launch attacks.

**Denial of service (DoS/DDoS) attacks**
In a denial of service (DoS) attack, the attacker deluges the target server, in this case the database server, with so many requests that the server can no longer fulfill legitimate requests from actual users, and, in many cases, the server becomes unstable or crashes.

**Best practices for Database Security**
Consider the following areas for the best practices for Database Security when evaluating database security in your environment to decide on your team's top priorities.

**Physical security**
It is necessary that your database server is located within a secure, climate-controlled environment. Regardless of whether your database server is on-premise or in a cloud data center. Your cloud provider will consider this for you if your database server is in a cloud data center.

**Administrative and network access controls**
It is necessary that only the minimum number of users should have access to the database, and their permissions should be restricted to the limited levels necessary for them to do their jobs. Similarly, network access should be restricted to the required level of permissions necessary.

**End user account/device security**
You have to and have to be aware of who, when, why and how the data is being used and the database is accessed. If any unusual data activities occur or appear risky, Data monitoring solutions can alert you immediately. It is important that the database should be secured physically including all the user devices connecting to the network and are subject to security controls at all times.

**Encryption**
The data in the database and credential data, both the data should be protected with best-in-class encryption while at rest and in transit. In accordance with the best-practice guideline, all encryption keys should be handled.

**Database software security**
It is advisable to use the current version of your database management software, and apply all patches as soon as they are issued.

**Application/web server security**
It is important to have an ongoing security test and best practice management when any application or web server that interacts with the database can be a channel for attack or breach.

**Backup security**
All backups, copies, or images of the database must be subject to the same (or equally stringent) security controls as the database itself.

**Auditing**
Record all logins to the database server and operating system, and log all operations performed on sensitive data as well. Database security standard audits should be performed regularly.

**Wrapping Up**
Loss or unauthorized disclosure of valuable data can be quite costly to an organization. It does not matter how large or small your business is, you need to prioritize data security. It is an important factor which helps to safeguard all valuable information and keeps your business running smoothly.

Want to know how to start with database security? Sennovate experts are here to help you with this.

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