Passwords are a necessary evil and there are times when you have to hand out a password for a SQL login (because the POS application doesn’t support Windows Authentication). Traditionally I’ve done this by sending an email to the user with the login and a separate one with the password, figuring that internal security controls…
Tag: Security
AD Accounts Are Great, But…
Using Windows Authentication for your database is a great best practice to follow. However, one caveat to remember as one of my administrators found out today. Do not use that account as a login if it is also the account you use for your database. We setup an AD account for his database, that part…
Good Best Practice Advice from the Pensacola Pre-Con, Round Two
Yesterday, I wrote about some advice that I received at the pre-con titled “Demystifying Database Administration Best Practices” which was presented by Microsoft Certified Masters Robert Davis (twitter|blog) and Argenis Fernandez (twitter|blog) from SQL Saturday #132 in Pensacola, Florida. Here are some more gems: Instant File Initialization is critical for performance, read more from Kimberly L. Tripp (twitter|blog). If you…
Good Best Practice Advice from the Pensacola Pre-Con
For my first blog about SQL Saturday #132, I wanted to review some of the good advice I received from the pre-conference training on Friday prior to the event. The pre-con titled “Demystifying Database Administration Best Practices” was presented by Microsoft Certified Masters Robert Davis (twitter|blog) and Argenis Fernandez (twitter|blog). Some of these I knew, some…
Hardening SQL Server
My new article for SQL Server Magazine on Hardening SQL Server has been posted online and will appear in an upcoming print issue. This article is a brief explanation of how to secure SQL Server against malicious attack or invasion. This article can serve as a guide for preventing your SQL Servers from being compromised.…
Fun With Windows Logins In SQL
Sometimes you come across quirkiness when playing with SQL Server. Once in a while those things are related to security. This happens to be one of those times. Release My Code I was provided with a script by the dev team to create a new proc and grant permissions on that proc to a Windows…