Database Security Best Practices
In SQL database management systems, database security helps maintain the security of confidential system user data and ensures that unauthorized or malicious users cannot access, manipulate, or make any unwanted modifications to secure or confidential databases. Here, the database administrator provides security against data breaches, unauthorized user access, and any potential attacks on the database system by applying strong database security rules and concepts in the security system.
Database security rules and regulations in a database management system to ensure strong database security.
Follow robust authentication methods in database security.
Use strong database passwords.
Ensure that all database users in your database system use their usernames and strong passwords (a secure complex password with more than 16 characters, including a combination of alphabets, numbers, and special characters) for secure database user access.
Database users are required to change their passwords regularly, for example, every 50 to 100 days, and immediately change any old passwords.
Follow multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Apply the multi-factor authentication (MFA) concept for users accessing the main database system. Here, an additional layer of security can be added to the database system security through another form of user authentication, such as a number or alphanumeric secret code sent to the database user’s phone or through an authentication app, thus maintaining stricter security.
Use database user roles and limited accounts.
Create database roles for users in the database system based on their job requirements, with specific administrator privileges. For example, a user role like “read_only” should only have SELECT permissions and privileges on database tables, while the “db_admin” role should have advanced user administrator privileges. Avoid using shared group accounts for multiple users in a secure database system, as this can lead to ambiguous user access behaviour, making it difficult to determine which database user performed which specific database tasks.
Implement the principle of least privilege for database users.
Restrict user access to data.
In a secure database system, provide users with only the minimum necessary data access level for their database tasks. This includes restricting user access to sensitive system data and tables, such as individual information, credit card data, etc.
Use a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) model to assign database users to predefined roles with only the specific privileges required.
Audit user permissions.
Regularly review and audit all permissions granted to each user or role in the database system. Ensure that any unnecessary permissions granted to any database user are revoked, and that database user access is aligned with their responsibilities.
Avoid using superuser or administrator accounts.
Limit the use of superuser or database administrator (DBA) accounts to minimize the risk of any type of database misuse in a secure database system.
Ensure that only authorized database users can access these accounts, and that these account privileges or permissions are used only for administrative tasks.
Encrypt sensitive system data.
Database data encryption at rest.
Encrypt confidential user data stored in the database system to protect it from unauthorized user access in case of a database compromise. This ensures that even if an unauthorized database attacker gains access to the underlying storage, they will not be able to read the secure data without the decryption keys. To further protect the database system, apply strong encryption methods such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption algorithms.
Data Encryption in Transit.
When data is moving between the database and the client application in the database system, follow the concept of Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt that secure data. This encryption helps prevent man-in-the-middle attacks and any type of spying activities.
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE).
Many database software systems, such as SQL Server and Oracle, provide Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) to automatically encrypt these data files.
Apply security patches and updates related to the database regularly.
Maintain your database software up-to-date by regularly applying the latest security patches and updates to your database system. Many attackers exploit popular vulnerabilities in older software to breach the system’s security layers.
Always stay informed about new patches for your database software and strictly follow the security advisories from your database software vendor.
Before deploying any vendor patches to your production database system, test them in a non-production environment to ensure they do not disrupt regular database operations.
Database System Backup and Disaster Recovery Concepts.
Regularly back up your database system.
Take regular backups of your secure confidential database, including full, differential, and transaction log backups. This ensures that data can be immediately restored in case of damage or loss to the database system.
Store your database backups securely and ensure they are encrypted both at rest and in transit.
Database System Backup Testing.
Regularly test the database backup restoration process to ensure that in the event of a disaster or breach, the backup data can be restored immediately and properly.
Store backup copies off-site or use cloud storage locations as a backup to prevent data loss due to system hardware failure or local disasters.
Implement network security controls on the database system.
Implement firewalls and IP whitelisting for the database. Apply a strong firewall to limit user access to the secure and confidential database server to only reliable, trusted IP addresses. This prevents unauthorized or malicious external user access to the secure database.
Configure IP whitelisting to limit user connections to specific database IP addresses or address ranges.
For added security, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Force database users to connect to the database system through a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN), especially when database users are accessing the database from outside the organization’s internal network.
Disable unnecessary ports on the system.
To reduce the risk or possibility of attacks on the secure database system, disable all unused ports on the database server. This limits the possible entry points for attackers into the database system.
Monitor every activity in the database system and Analyze the logs.
Enable auditing in the database system.
Enable database auditing features to track database user activity in the database system, such as user login attempts, SQL database queries, and modifications to important data.
Use logging to identify any abnormal or suspicious harmful activity in the database system, such as failed user login attempts or unauthorized modifications to database tables.
Centralized database logging.
Set up a centralized logging process to store system logs from the database server in a secure location separate from the database server. This makes it impossible for database attackers to tamper with or modify the logs in the database system.
Ensure that the system database logs are secured with proper access controls and regularly reviewed for any suspicious activity. Use an intrusion detection system (IDS) for database security.
Implement an intrusion detection system (IDS) and monitoring tools for database security. This will allow database administrators to be immediately alerted to any suspicious activity, such as brute-force login attempts or access to system data in large volumes.
