Databases store your organisation’s most valuable data. Customer information, financial records, and intellectual property all sit in database tables. Yet database security often receives inadequate attention until after a breach.
Default configurations prioritise ease of use over security. Databases ship with administrative accounts using well-known passwords. Sample databases contain default users with excessive privileges. Production deployments often retain these dangerous defaults.
Network exposure represents a critical vulnerability. Databases listening on public IP addresses invite attack. Port scans reveal database servers accepting connections from anywhere on the internet. Attackers probe these exposed databases continuously.
Authentication weaknesses compound the problem. Weak passwords, missing multi-factor authentication, and overly permissive access all create easy entry points. Once authenticated, attackers often find minimal restrictions on what they can access. Comprehensive internal network penetration testing examines whether database access controls actually prevent unauthorised access.
Encryption at rest sounds straightforward. Enable transparent data encryption, and your data is protected. Reality involves key management complexity, performance considerations, and frequent implementation mistakes that leave data exposed.
William Fieldhouse, Director of Aardwolf Security Ltd, explains: “Database security requires layers of protection. Network isolation, strong authentication, the principle of least privilege, encryption, and monitoring all contribute. Skip any layer, and you create exploitable weaknesses.”
Excessive privileges plague database environments. Application service accounts run with database administrator rights. Every developer has full access to production databases. When accounts get compromised, attackers inherit those excessive privileges.
SQL injection remains devastatingly effective. Despite decades of awareness, injection vulnerabilities persist. Applications that concatenate user input into SQL queries invite database compromise. Parameterised queries prevent injection but require consistent implementation.
Audit logging often gets disabled for performance reasons. Without comprehensive logging, detecting unauthorised access becomes impossible. Attackers operate freely, knowing their actions leave no traces.
Backup security deserves more attention. Backups contain complete copies of sensitive data. Backups stored insecurely or without encryption represent massive data breach risks. Attackers who can’t penetrate production databases sometimes target backups instead.
Database vulnerability scanning identifies configuration weaknesses and missing patches. Databases run complex software with regular security updates. Outdated database versions accumulate exploitable vulnerabilities. Regular vulnerability scanning services ensure databases remain patched and properly configured.
Separation of duties prevents any single account from controlling all aspects of database security. Different accounts should handle schema changes, data access, backup management, and security configuration. This limits damage from compromised credentials.
