In May 2023, IT Governance discovered that cyberattacks compromised over 98 million records globally. This marked a staggering 2,156% increase from April 2023, with 98 publicly disclosed security incidents contributing to the surge.
Take PharMerica for example, a pharmacy network in the US. Between March 12 and March 13, unauthorised access has compromised its database. Patients’ names, Social Security numbers, health insurance data and medical data were stolen, some of them belonging to deceased individuals.
Imagine your business in the same spot. Your reputation would take a hit, with large financial losses and potential legal ramifications down the line.
This is where database security comes into play. More than a technical buzzword, it protects your organisation from malicious cyberattacks, unauthorised access and illegitimate use using tools and processes.
Let’s explore strategies, discuss threats & defences, understand the importance of database protection and level up your data defence game with a training provider!
Getting Started: What Is Database Security?
Database security refers to the measures, processes and tools implemented to protect the database against accidental and intentional threats. It aims to ensure the security of confidential data while upholding the database’s integrity and availability.
Aside from safeguarding the information within the database, database security also protects the database management system, related applications, the network infrastructure, and physical and virtual servers.
With this, database security often clashes with usability—a principle known as Anderson’s rule. The more accessible a database is, the easier it is to breach security.
On the flip side, a secure database can be harder to access and use. This is why database administrators should strike the right balance between usability and security.
Benefits of Database Security: Why Is It Important?
Data is power. Whoever has access to sensitive data can cause harm, gain millions of money and disrupt normal operations. Extortion, identity theft, corporate espionage and ransom can happen to any organisation, especially when database security measures in place are inadequate.
That’s why learning how to implement robust database protection through database security courses is a must. Take a closer look at its benefits:
Protects Brand Reputation
One of the most damaging long-term effects of data breaches is the loss of trust among your customers and partners. They will not risk buying your products or services if they can’t trust you with data protection.
In fact, according to a survey conducted by Gemalto, 70% of consumers would stop doing business with a company that suffered a data breach and jeopardised their information.
A secure database, on the other hand, builds trust and confidence. When your clients and partners know you’re taking extra precautions to protect their data, they are more likely to interact with you. A reputation for strong data security can also be a competitive advantage, especially in an age where cyber threats are prevalent.
Avoids Fines and Penalties For Non-Compliance
Your organisation may face financial repercussions if you fail to comply with data protection regulations. For instance, the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) implemented increased financial penalties last October 1, 2022.
These empowered the authorities to impose penalties. It amounts to S$1 million or 10% of an organisation’s annual turnover in Singapore—whichever is greater—for violations of the Data Protection Provisions under the Singapore PDA.
Take the Wirecard scandal as a case in point. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) fined DBS, OCBC, Citigroup and Swiss Life S$3.8 million for inadequate AML/CFT controls related to the Wirecard scandal. The largest fine, amounting to S$2.6 million, was imposed on DBS—the largest bank in Singapore.
Safeguards Intellectual Property
Maintaining a competitive advantage in the market means protecting your intellectual property. This includes your proprietary information, inventions, trade secrets, database rights, utility models and more.
Once these are stolen or exposed, competitors or unauthorised entities can gain access and put you at a disadvantage.
With database security, you can protect your intellectual property by implementing strict access control, encrypting sensitive data and deploying database firewalls, among other measures.
Understanding Common Threats And Challenges In Database Protection
To implement effective security measures, you first need to understand common threats and vulnerabilities that can compromise sensitive data.
Let’s review what can affect a database:
Human Error
A big challenge in battling data breaches is human error. While the intentions aren’t always malicious, a study revealed that 88% of data breaches are caused by employee mistakes.
Hackers frequently target end users because they have the authority to access a database but often lack data security awareness. Due to inadequate training, they will be more likely to click on malicious links, download harmful attachments and use unauthorised devices.
This, in turn, makes them vulnerable to exploitation. When employees are unaware that their actions can cause potential breaches, security incidents will escalate.
To mitigate the impact of human error on database security, organisations should prioritise education and training programs. For instance, database users must create robust passwords, only use company-issued devices and train on proper email use.
SQL Injection Attacks
One of the most common threats to database security is SQL injection. It involves injecting a malicious SQL code into input fields to manipulate the database query. If the database code has a vulnerability, it will allow hackers to bypass authentication and execute unauthorised SQL commands.
SQL injection attacks are usually used on websites. If the attack is successful, intruders can perform any of these activities:
- Extract or steal data from the database. They can also change, alter or delete records, resulting in data corruption and manipulation.
- Create new, persistent threats within the database to maintain access even after the initial compromise has been fixed.
- Install malware on the server and compromise other systems connected to the database.
Denial of Service (DoS/DDoS) Attacks
When a denial of service (DoS) attack happens, the cybercriminal overwhelms the target database server with a huge amount of fake requests. It prevents the server from processing genuine requests from actual users, causing the system to crash or become unstable.
A DDoS attack involves multiple computers (a botnet) to generate fake traffic which makes it difficult to mitigate without a scalable architecture. Some of its consequences include poor user experience, loss of revenue and remediation costs.
Malware
Also known as malicious software, malware refers to software-based threats like viruses, trojans, worms, ransomware and keyloggers, to name a few. It is designed to exploit vulnerabilities within a database, gain information and cause damage to it.
Cybercriminals follow several strategies to install malware in databases, such as:
- Drive-by downloads
- Trojans hidden in email attachments
- Cross-site scripting (XSS)
- Through an endpoint device connected to the database’s network
- Watering hole attacks
It is also important to remember that attacks can come from insider threats. If you grant authorised access to employees with harmful intentions, a malware attack might be lurking around the corner.
Password Attacks
A common method of user authentication in databases involves using passwords. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are aware that passwords are poorly designed. They have published a whopping 555 million stolen passwords on the dark web since 2017.
To execute a password attack, criminals would use bots to guess passwords and apply various strategies like:
- Brute force attacks
- Password spraying attacks
- Dictionary attacks
- Credential stuffing attacks
- Keylogger attacks
Some criminals prefer stealing passwords instead of cracking them. They will use phishing to steal credentials, which often relies on human error to be successful.
Let’s give you an example. A hacker sends you an email and pretends to be an employee of PayPal. They inform you that your account has been compromised and locked, preventing you from accessing your funds.
You click the link and enter your credentials out of panic. Little did you know that it was a fake PayPal site, and you just handed them your information and money on a silver platter.
Attacks On Backups
One way to protect the integrity of your database is to create a backup. However, a lot of companies fail to implement stringent security equivalent to those applied to the primary database. As a result, several data breaches occur through database backup leaks.
Database Security Best Practices: How To Protect Your Database
From malware attacks to human error and backup vulnerabilities, database-related threats can put your organisation on the line. What’s worse have entered an era where cybercriminals adopt the most advanced hacking vectors that a simple multifactor authentication can’t defend against.
Fortunately, building a strong database protection strategy can reduce the chances of cyberattacks. Here are the best practices you should follow to protect your organisation’s sensitive data:
Improve Physical Database Security
Some databases are stored on physical servers.
Unfortunately, privately owned servers and data centres are still vulnerable to physical breaches by outsiders or potential inside threats. If a hacker successfully gains access to your physical database, they could steal the data and install malware for remote access.
So, how do you exactly deploy security measures for physical servers? Here are some tips:
- Install CCTVs & locks and hire security personnel.
- Monitor all accesses. Every physical access server should be regularly reviewed, logged and controlled. You should also trigger alerts if regular access is uncommon.
Apply The Principle Of Least Privilege
When it comes to database security, applying the principle of least privilege (PoLP) is the most common advice. You have to grant individuals the minimum levels of access or permission required to perform their tasks.
It is considered one of the most popular cybersecurity strategies, helping reduce cyberattacks. Keep in mind that the most advanced cyber threats depend on the exploitation of privileged accounts, arousing little to no suspicion once they gain access.
By implementing PoLP, you narrow the scope of damage if a hacker holds a regular user account with limited privileges.
In contrast, if an admin account is hacked, it’s possible that the entire network can be compromised. That’s why we highly recommend that you maintain a minimal number of administrators to decrease the chances of data breaches.
Use Firewalls
A firewall rejects traffic to suspicious IPs and filters out unused ports, improving overall database security. Consider them as your first layer of defence. They only allow traffic from certain web servers, applications and users with a legitimate need to access the data.
However, relying on a single firewall might not prevent all types of attacks. You can add more firewalls to your database, including:
- Proxy Server Firewall: This firewall performs a more detailed inspection of network traffic to protect the database from malware and malicious activities. It operates with its own IP address, preventing direct connections between the Internet and internal networks.
- Stateful Packet Inspection (Dynamic Packet Filtering): It monitors active connections on a network to determine which network packets should be allowed through the firewall. It memorises each connection and constantly verifies if they are valid.
- Packet Filtering Firewall: Also referred to as static filtering, this firewall operates at the network layer. It controls the flow of incoming and outgoing packets based on rules and policies, protecting your database from malware attacks.
With additional firewalls on your end, you can prevent SQL injections and hackers trying to bypass authentication.
Regularly Manage Passwords and User Access
Human error can sometimes be inevitable, but this doesn’t mean that you’re powerless in protecting your database from it.
This is especially true for large organisations. If you manage one, you should consider automating access management through password management software like Bitwarden, Keeper and LastPass, among others. This gives authorised users a temporary password, granting them specific rights whenever access to a database is needed.
Make sure that you also review accesses and delete unused accounts. Some employees resign, change roles and switch responsibilities. Setting up an access review process will help you ensure all inactive accounts are instantly deactivated.
Most importantly, only store the hashes of your passwords on a database. Apply a strong hashing algorithm to make passwords less susceptible to dictionary-based password attacks.
Use Real-Time Database Monitoring
Improving your database security involves real-time database monitoring. You need to actively scan your database for potential breach attempts, helping you proactively respond to cyberattacks and reduce security incidents.
To get started, you can use monitoring software to record all actions taken on the server and trigger alerts if a breach occurs. You may also create escalation protocols to further protect your sensitive data from ill-intentioned individuals.
Set Up Data Encryption Protocols
Encrypting your data is important when handling sensitive user information, ensuring compliance with data privacy laws and defending against ransomware.
When you have data encryption protocols in place, it lowers the risk of a successful data breach. Meaning to say, even if cybercriminals gain access to your data, the information remains secure.
Moreover, data encryption protects your data not only when it’s at rest but also during transit, where it is often the most susceptible to security risks.
Some data encryption protocols include using column-level encryption, encrypting disks containing sensitive data and requiring SSL/TLS encryption for database connections.
Regularly Update All Software And Applications
Even the best database protection tools and protocols might be useless if you don’t properly maintain your systems. All applications, firmware and tools should be closely monitored for vulnerabilities and newly released patches. This also includes widgets, plug-ins and third-party apps.
Ensure that you only use software or plug-ins that receive regular updates from their developers. This is because abandoned software could be more vulnerable to attacks since they don’t feature updated security patches.
Master The Ins And Outs Of Database Security Management
As Stephanie Nappo aptly puts it, ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and a few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it.’
Data breaches can permanently taint your reputation, require you to pay fines worth millions of dollars and lead to legal consequences. You lose customer and client trust, which can take several years to rebuild.
What’s worse, cyberattacks can target even the most well-prepared companies. Cybersecurity threats and hacking strategies are constantly evolving, which means no organisation will remain immune.
However, understanding how database security works and establishing good practices is your best bet against threats. Using firewalls, monitoring databases, managing user access and deploying physical security measures can protect you from human error, malware and password attacks.
Luckily, LearnCollab is here to help companies train their employees in database security management. Our courses include the following:
- Essentials Of Good Governance In A Sustainable Workplace
- Fundamentals Of Singapore Personal Data Protection Act 2020
- Practitioner Certificate In Personal Data Protection (Singapore) 2020 (WSQ)
We will guide you in developing and implementing a Data Protection Management Programme (DPMP) that complies with Singapore’s data privacy laws. Employees will also learn how to use risk-based tools to protect their organisation’s sensitive information.
Together, let’s transform your workplace with one of the best training providers—one course at a time. Get in touch with us today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is database security important?
Database security is important to safeguard sensitive information, such as financial records, customer data and intellectual property. Other benefits include:
- It protects brand reputation and ensures business continuity.
- Database protection helps companies avoid hefty fines and penalties for non-compliance.
What are the most common threats to database security?
The most common threats to database security are SQL injection attacks, human error, malware, attacks on backups, password attacks and DDoS attacks, among others.
How can I protect my database from potential data breaches and cyberattacks?
To protect your database from cyberattacks, consider the following strategies:
- Use the principle of least privilege.
- Manage passwords and user access.
- Deploy security for physical data centres.
- Update all software and tools regularly.
- Use firewalls.