Methods for Database Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Methods for Database Security - Essay Example The main part of this paper discusses the ways that an organization can use to counter the threats identified in the previous parts of the paper. The methods to be used include data encryption, web-based data security, authentication and access control, timeliness and security in real-time database systems, SQL Injections, negative databases, data security policies, and database auditing policies. Database Security Database security has become one of the most important issues in today’s world of technology. Many organizations depend a lot on their databases for the storage of their information and assets. Like all assets that any company treasures, the database is probably one of the most important assets, since it is used to store a myriad of information (Burtescu, 2009). The increase in technological advancement has allowed companies to be interconnected in ways that were not possible in the past, and with the growing technological link, so does insecurity grow. The increased connectivity has brought a number of benefits to organizations, but with it is an increased vulnerability to the security of the information accessible from the database (Burtescu, 2009). The core point in database security is the restriction of unauthorized access into databases, which can be done in a number of ways. In this case, security is used to refer to the policies or mechanisms used to prevent the threat and the asset coming into contact, where the asset referred to is the database. This means that database security is mainly concerned with protecting the database from unintended activity, be it from insiders, outsiders, or unwanted programs. Since the database is mainly a store of information, database security is concerned with preventing the loss of this information to unauthorized personnel (Burtescu, 2009). The building of a secure database is focused on improving traditional DBMS measures and providing an extended platform to the security measures in the modern organization. The main aim of this paper is to outline the main security threats that an organization can face in relation to the database, outline the importance of database security, and provide detailed explanations of the main types of database security issues. Therefore, it can be seen that the main objective in the paper is to provide an explanation of the database security methods available to an organization. A s already stated, the databases in organizations are mainly used to store important information, information ranging from financial information to customer information to product information. This means that the database is one of the most important features of the organization. It is, therefore, important that an organization keep track of the security issues that affect their databases. This indicates that the main importance of database security is to prevent unauthorized access t oinfo4mation stored in the database, which includes unauthorized modification and access. Database security systems are also put in place to ensure that data kept in the database stays confidential, since most of the data is of a sensitive nature. For example, customer information stored in a telephone company database can be sued maliciously if accessed by the wrong individuals; therefore, organizations have to ensure that their databases are kept secure. Database security is also emphasized by organiz ations to ensure that information integrity is secured, since tainted data can influence many mechanisms in the organization. However, despite the growing need for database security, many security threats come up in the growing technological atmosphere, some of which are described below.