The number of attempts to hack the security system of different companies and organizations is alarming. At the moment, attacks are most of all organizations in the field of health, finance, retail, government, production and energy.

Together with new technologies appearance cybercrime is developing rapidly. Their methods are becoming more sophisticated. As a result, even large enterprises with a reliable cyber protection system can become their victims. Small business is a little «relaxed» in this matter, erroneously believing that they are «uninteresting» for cybercriminals. However, any information and data are value and can become a «prize» for cybercriminals regardless of which company they belong.

According to forecasts, by 2025 cybercrime will cost the global economy of 10.5 trillion dollars. This once again shows how important direct the attention to ensure cybersecurity.

Safety measures database differ from web security measures. Next, consider 10 basic methods for ensuring databases safety and corporate information protection.

1. Physical database security

Data centers and proprietary servers may be vulnerable to physical attacks from a third party or internal source. A cybercriminal can steal data, corrupt it, or inject malware to gain remote access having gained access to a physical database server. They can bypass digital security protocols, so it’s worth taking extra security measures to detect this type of attack.

When choosing an information hosting and storage service provider it’s necessary to make sure that the company takes security issues seriously. It is worth avoiding free services, as this may lack a security system. To ensure the security of your own servers, you need to introduce additional physical security measures: cameras, locks, security personnel. Also, to reduce the risk of unauthorized activity, ertain users must have registered access to the servers.

2. Separate database servers

Protecting databases from cyberattacks involves special security measures. Placing the data and the site on the same server exposes the data to attacks that target the site. For example, the online store owner stores the website, confidential and non-confidential data on the same server. To protect against cyberattacks and fraud, many use the site security system that is provided by the hosting, as well as the security features of the e-commerce platform. But the vulnerability level of sensitive data to attacks through the website and e-commerce platform is becoming much higher. As a result, a cybercriminal can gain access to the database.

To mitigate these risks, it’s necessary to separate database servers from everything else. It also makes sense to use security information and monitor events in real time. It allows organizations to respond quickly and take immediate action when a breach is attempted.

3. HTTPS server setup

The proxy server acts as an intermediary between the user and the target server. Before accessing the database server, it evaluates requests that are sent from the workstation and does not allow unauthorized requests. Data passed through the proxy server is also encrypted, providing an additional protection layer. Sensitive data such as passwords, payment information, personal information requires setting up an HTTPS server.

4. Don’t Use Default Network Ports

Protocols are used when transferring data between servers. TCP and UPD protocols are used transferring data between servers and automatically use the default network ports. The default port is often used in a brute-force attack. The attack consists in searching for a password from the set of all its possible values ​​by exhaustive search. If you do not use the default ports, the cybercriminal will have a long and possibly unsuccessful path to find the right key. To ensure that the new port isn’t being used by others, it’s necessary to check the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority registry when assigning the new port.

5. Real-time database monitoring

Regularly scanning the database for hacking attempts enhances security and also allows to quickly respond to potential attacks. Tripwire software can be used to log all activities that occur on the database server.

Also, regular audits and testing should be carried out. It allows timely detection of vulnerabilities in database security and fix them.

6. Database and application firewall

A firewall is the first protection level against unauthorized access attempts that must be installed, both to protect the site and the database.

In this case, 3 types of firewalls are commonly used:

1. Packet filter firewall
2. Stateful packet inspection (SPI)
3. Proxy server firewall
4. Data Encryption Protocols

Data encryption is necessary to preserve trade secrets, as well as when moving and storing user confidential information. Data encryption significantly reduces the possibility of a successful data breach. Even if a cybercriminal gets hold of the data, the information remains secure.

8. Create backups

To reduce the risk of losing sensitive information due to malicious attacks or data corruption, you should back up a database regularly. The copy must be encrypted and stored on a separate server. This approach allows to recover data in case the primary database server is compromised or unavailable.

9. Application update

As a result of research, it was revealed that 9 out of 10 applications contain outdated software components. According to the WordPress plugins analysis, 17383 plugins have not been updated for 2 years, 13655 for 3 years, and 3990 for 7 years. Together, this poses a serious security risk. To manage databases, it’s necessary to use reliable software, keep it up to date and install new patches, and this also applies to widgets, plugins, third-party applications, etc.

10. User authentication

According to studies, compromised passwords are responsible for 80% of data breaches. This proves that passwords by themselves are not a strong security measure (primarily due to the human factor in creating a password). To solve this problem, it is worth adding another security layer by setting up a multi-factor authentication process. Recent trends make this method less than ideal, but it will be difficult for cybercriminals to bypass the security protocol. Also, to reduce the potential hacking risk, access to the database should be limited to verified IP addresses. The IP address can be copied, but it will require additional effort from the cybercriminal.

A database is a structure for storing, modifying and processing a large amount of interdependent information. Large data amounts storing in a single database makes it possible to form many variations of information grouping: personal data, customer data, corporate data, order history, product catalog, etc. Undoubtedly, one of the main requirements for databases is security.

Database security is a set of measures that are used to protect database management systems from cyberattacks and unauthorized use, as well as to create and maintain their confidentiality, integrity and availability. Database security programs are designed to protect against unauthorized use, damage and intrusion of the data in the database, the entire data management system and each application.

Database security protection includes:

• data in the database;
• database management system;
• all related applications;
• physical and/or virtual database server and underlying hardware;
• computing and/or network infrastructure that is used to access the database.

Database security is a complex and voluminous project that includes all aspects of information security technologies and practices. Database availability and usefulness can add vulnerabilities to cyberattacks.

Data leakage is nothing more than the failure to ensure data confidentiality in the database. The degree of damage to the enterprise will depend on the following factors:

1. Compromised intellectual property

The intellectual property of an organization is a trade secret, various kinds of inventions, property rights. All of these are critical to the ability to own a business and maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Intellectual property theft can make recovery difficult or impossible.

2. Damage to reputation

The trust of customers and partners is very valuable. They need to know and feel the level of their data protection. Otherwise, it threatens with a refusal to purchase goods or services, a refusal to cooperate.

3. Business continuity

Some companies cannot continue their activities until the problem is fully resolved.

4. Penalties for non-compliance

Financial penalties can be devastating to a business. In some cases, fines exceed several million dollars.

5. Repairing breaches and notifying customers costs

In addition to the costs of communication with the client, the affected company must organize and pay for judicial and investigative activities, crisis management activities, recovery, etc.

Incorrect settings, vulnerabilities, misuse of software can lead to serious violations. The most common causes and threats to database security include:

• Insider threats are security threats from a source with privileged access to the database. These include: an attacker who intentionally tries to cause harm; a careless business user who makes mistakes and thereby makes the database vulnerable; an outsider who obtains credentials through a phishing scheme etc. Insider threats are the most common causes of database security breaches, as a large number of users have root access.
• Human error – accident, weak passwords, password sharing and other irresponsible user actions.
• Database software vulnerabilities – one of the main things that hackers get paid to do is to find and fix vulnerabilities in all kinds of software, including database management software. Major commercial database software vendors and open source database management platforms regularly release security patches to address vulnerabilities. Failure to apply updates in a timely manner can increase the risk of being exposed to a threat.
• SQL/NoSQL attacks – a database-specific threat that involves the insertion of arbitrary SQL and NoSQL attack strings into database queries. Using secure web application coding techniques and vulnerability testing reduces the risk of becoming a victim of attacks.
• Receive buffer overflow – this occurs when an attempt is made to write more data to a fixed-length memory block than it is allowed to store. Cybercriminals use redundant data as the basis for launching attacks.
• DDoS attacks (denial of service) – a cybercriminal floods the target server, after which it cannot fulfill legitimate requests from real users. Basically, the server becomes unavailable or crashes.