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IS481 Week 2 Lecture For BB

Database encryption protects sensitive data by encrypting information at the database level. This prevents access to cleartext data even if storage media is lost or breached. While database encryption provides advantages over encryption at other levels, risks still exist as certain privileged users and infected applications could potentially access decryption keys and decrypted data. Proper key management is also needed to balance accessibility and security, with different approaches involving single keys for the entire database, unique keys for each row, or a combination of methods.

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3K views

IS481 Week 2 Lecture For BB

Database encryption protects sensitive data by encrypting information at the database level. This prevents access to cleartext data even if storage media is lost or breached. While database encryption provides advantages over encryption at other levels, risks still exist as certain privileged users and infected applications could potentially access decryption keys and decrypted data. Proper key management is also needed to balance accessibility and security, with different approaches involving single keys for the entire database, unique keys for each row, or a combination of methods.

Uploaded by

Grantham University
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Overview

Databasescontainavarietyofsensitiveinformation.Thisinformationcaninclude
customers'personaldata,confidentialcompetitiveinformation,andintellectual
property.Theimpactoflostorstolendatacanresultinbranddamage,competitive
disadvantage,andfinesorlawsuits.Regulationsforprivacymandatesrequire
protectingdataatrestalongwiththedatabase.

DatabaseEncryption

Encryptionisasolutiontomakecaptureddataunreadablebyunauthorized
individuals.Optionsincludeencryptingdataattheapplicationlevel,thedatabase
level,orthestoragelevel.Storagelevelencryptionguardsagainstriskinthecase
wherestoragemediaarelost.Thisdoesnotprotectagainstmaliciousinsidersor
systemsinfectedbymalware.Applicationlevelencryptionprovidesthehighest
degreeofcontrol.Databaseencryptionprotectsdataatrestgoesfurtherthanstorage
levelencryptionwhileavoidingchangesintheapplicationlayer.
Withdatabaseencryptionineffect,onlyauthorizedapplicationscanaccess
decrypteddata.Theotherapplicationsandadministratorsseeencrypteddataonly.
Thatmeansdatacanremainprotectedevenintheeventofcertaindatabreaches
Therearestillrisksassociatedwithdatabaseencryption.Wemustconsiderthat
insidersandsystemadministratorscanaccessbothencrypteddataandencryption
keys.Inthiscasetheydohaveaccesstocleartextdata,unlesskeysaredeliberately
isolatedinadedicatedkeymanagementsystem.Superuserswithbroadaccess

rightscansubvertandpotentiallydisableencryptioncontrolsunlesssuitablechecks
andbalancesareputinplace.
Anotherissueisapplicationsthathavelegitimateaccessrightswhichareinfected
withmalwarecanstillaccessconfidentialdata.Multipledatabaseinstanceswill
typicallyrequireaccesstothesamekeys.Thiscanhaveanimpactonthecostsof
provisioningandrotatingkeysinacoordinatedfashion.Keylosscanrenderdata
unavailable,sincedecryptionwouldbeimpossible.

KeyManagement

Aproperkeymanagementsystembalancesthesimplicityofkeyaccessagainst
preventionofunauthorizedaccesstothekeys.
Thereareessentiallythreedifferenttypesofkeymanagement:
Asinglekeyfortheentiredatabase
Adifferentkeyforeachrowoftableswithencrypteddata
Acombinationapproach

UsingaSingleKey

Withthisapproach,asinglekeyisusedtoaccessanydatainthedatabase.The
biggestadvantageofusingasinglekeyisthattheencryption/decryptionroutines
willnotneedtoselectkeysfromtablesorstorethemeverytimearecordis
manipulatedinthebasetable.Theresultisthatperformanceisgenerallybetter
becauseofreducedCPUcyclesandI/Ooperations.Thebiggestdisadvantageofthis
approachisitsdependenceonasinglepointoffailure.Ifanintruderbreaksintothe
databaseanddeterminesthekey,theentiredatabasebecomesimmediately
vulnerable.Inaddition,ifyouwanttochangethekey,youwillneedtochangeall
oftherowsinallofthetables,whichmaybequiteanextensivetaskinalarge
database.

UsingaKeyforEachRow

Withthisapproach,adifferentkeyisusedforeachrowofatable.Thisapproachis
farmoresecurethanthesinglekeyapproach.Evenifathiefsucceedsinstealinga
key,onlyonerowwillbecompromised,nottheentiretableorthedatabase.There
aresomedisadvantagesofthisapproach:theproliferationofkeysmakesit
extremelydifficulttomanagethem.Also,becauseencryptionanddecryption
operationsneedtogenerateorretrieveadifferentkeyforeachrow,performance
willsuffer.

UsingaCombinedApproach

Theprosandconsofthetwooptionsdiscussedare:
Withtheonekeyapproach:
1. Thekeymanagementisextremelysimple.Thereisonlyonekeyto
managecreate,access,andbackup.
2. Thekeycanbeplacedinmanyplacesconvenientfortheapplicationsto
access.
3. Ontheotherhand,ifthekeyiseverstolen,theentiredatabasebecomes
vulnerable.
Withtheonekeyperrowapproach:
1. Thenumberofkeysequatestothenumberofrows,increasingthe
complexityofkeymanagementmoredatatobackup,morestorage,and
soon.
2. Ontheotherhand,ifasinglekeyisstolen,onlythatcorrespondingrowis
compromised,nottheentiredatabase.Thisaddstotheoverallsecurityof
thesystem.
Analternativeapproachcouldbetouseasinglekeypercolumn,wherethesame
keyappliestoalltherowsorakeypertableregardlessofthenumberofcolumns
orakeyperschemaandsoon.Thenumberofkeystobemanagedwoulddecrease
dramaticallywithanyoftheseapproaches,butofcoursethevulnerabilityofthe
datawouldincrease.

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