A new comparative study of database security

Abstract

Data is being stored electronically increasingly more, and the importance of databases has therefore increased significantly. Given that the data collected is used for various reasons and the sensitivity of the data can differ, the importance of database security is crucial. Although, database security has been on the “agenda” of security experts for a long time, technologies have changed and databases have evolved accordingly. In this paper, the aim is to offer a refreshed perspective of the security measures implemented in databases nowadays, with a comparison study of two popular databases: Oracle and Microsoft SQL. The comparison will provide the strengths and weaknesses of both database systems after analyzing the authentication, authorization, encryption, auditing and user management features provided by both, to help determine which Database Management System has a more comprehensive asset of tools to protect its internal data. Furthermore, this paper can also offer a guide for database administrators, to help them choose the best strategy and tools to secure their databases.

Keywords

• database security
• dbms
• oracle database server
• microsoft sql server