Database Security, Research Paper Example

Polyinstantiation and Object Resurrection

The strategy that allows multiple instances of a record in the database is Polyinstantiation. These instances point to the same primary key and display different values according to the users of varying security classifications. This is the excellent strategy used for concealing the sensitive information (Alfred, Melissa, Dana & Thomas, 2011). But, this involves falsification of the data and leaves the database inconsistent, which results in great confusion if not properly managed and documented. And also the redundancy required for this strategy consumes wide volume of resources.

Now-a-days the database systems used are object-oriented. These require many objects and takes more time for creation. So the process of recycling the older objects to avoid the object creation-cost is called Object Resurrection. Using this, database security can be enhanced as the number of users involved in creating the objects can be minimized. But in an Object Oriented Database Management System (OODMS) the objects are stored in the database itself reducing the need for reconstruction (Alfred et al., 2011).

Secure Database Architecture

The database architecture is the set of rules, specifications and processes that dictate how data in the database is stored and accessed by components of a system. It describes the organization of data objects and how they work. It affects reliability, scalability, integrity and performance. The most important and the common elements of database architecture are database objects. Objects include rows, columns, views and tables. Access control enhances the database security by assigning rights and privileges to the users and database objects (Murray, 2010). It limits the actions on database objects to specific users. In order to identify who accessed the database objects, database auditing can be used. This cannot prevent, but provides a way to identify the security breaches.

References

• Alfred Basta, Melissa Zgola, Dana Bullaboy, Thomas L. Whitlock Sr. (2011). Database Security. Cengage Learning.
• Meg Coffin Murray (2010). Database Security: What students need to know? Journal of University Technology Education: Innovations in Practice. 9, 62-77.