Download Database Security

Database Security &
Encryption
[email protected]
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A Truly Secure Database
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So In The Real World
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Database security protects the database against
unwanted effects, accidental or deliberate
There is always a trade off between high
security and performance/user convenience
Excessive security can in itself be a security
threat - workarounds
The first step is always a security audit
This lecture looks at the use of encryption as
part of a security policy
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Excessive Security Can
In Itself Be A Security Threat
Dilbert
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Before Deciding on Encryption
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Know the data and the database
 What
should be encrypted?
 Which encryption algorithms?
 DBMS or external encryption?
 What is the acceptable performance hit?
 Who are you protecting against?
 Is the benefit worth the cost?
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The Role of Encryption
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Most database security techniques focus on controlling access –
passwords, privileges, encrypting data as it travels
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There is much less focus on protecting data at rest (data in storage)
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We are assuming here that access encryption has already been used – this
lecture focuses on data in storage
Encryption is increasingly being used to protect data in storage
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Which includes backups
 And all the pen drives, portable hard drives, mobiles that get lost or
stolen
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Encryption is often described as ‘the last line of defence’
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Whole Database Encryption
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The whole database is encrypted
This protects the data at rest but requires
decryption for use
Whole DB encryption has traditionally been
regarded as too expensive – SQL Server
TDE, new with 2008, claims to reduce the
performance hit but still acknowledges a cost
(1)
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(2)
Partial Data Encryption
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Partial encryption provides more granularity plus the data is not
decrypted until it is used
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Usually referring to column encryption although it can also be cell
level or encryption of DB objects such as triggers
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Rule of thumb – encrypting a single column is likely to produce a
5% performance hit, but this varies wildly
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Traditional partial encryption can produce a massive performance
hit as indexes are not recognised – but this depends on the DBMS
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Highly configurable – can allocate different keys to different users
 With the downside that this increases the key management
problem
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Partial Data Encryption
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For SQL Server 2008, Microsoft suggest that with cell
level encryption, basic query performance tends to be
around 20% worse.
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Problem increases with scaling
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“One sample application with 10,000 rows was four times worse
with one column encrypted, and 20 times worse with
nine columns encrypted. Because cell-level encryption is custom
to each application, performance degradation will vary
depending on application and workload specifics.” (1)
“Custom to each application” - this is an “it depends”
area
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The Encryption Process
Plaintext
Encrypt
Cyphertext
Decrypt
Plaintext
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Encryption Algorithms: Data
Encryption Standard
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DES has a short (56 bit) key plus 8 bits used for
parity checking
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Very susceptible to brute force attacks
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“No sane security expert would consider using
DES to protect data.” (2)
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Now outdated – older versions of DBMS
encryption routines used DES e.g. early
versions of Oracle
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Encryption Algorithms: 3DES
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The limitations of DES led to 3DES – uses the DES
algorithm but employs a triple key approach
Plain Text
Much more
secure but
slower
Cipher Text
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Encryption Algorithms: AES
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Key size 128,192 or 256 bits
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Consists of a set of processing rounds – the
number varies depending on the key size e.g.
14 rounds for 256 length keys
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More secure
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Encryption Algorithms:RC5
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Symmetric (same key used for en/decryption)
block cypher
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Fast and flexible – the user can specify the
number of rounds
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Allows for a variable length key
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Supported in Oracle & DB2
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Encryption in the DBMS
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Some of the initial problems with DBMS
encryption are on the way to being solved
 Disk
size was a major problem as ciphers may
produce output in fixed block sizes, meaning that
the input must be padded – requiring resizing of
columns
 DBMS encryption was typically criticised for using
outdated algorithms such as DES & even 3DES
 Sometimes compatibility issues
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A plus with DBMS encryption is that there
should be minimal change implications
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Key Management
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The encryption is only as secure as the key
DBMS based encryptions (typically) store the
key inside the database
Which raises issues such as
 How many keys
 Who manages them
 Where are they stored
 What happens if you lose your key?
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Encryption Servers
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As an alternative to encrypting within the DB, a central
encryption server can be used to encrypt data in
applications as well as in the database
This is a heavily vendor led area; benefits claimed
include
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The downside is:
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More secure key management
Wider choice of algorithms
Wider coverage of data
Easier management of encryption
Removing computation overhead from DBMS/application
servers
Added complexity
Applications changes
Cost
And – is the extra layer necessary?
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Further Work
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You should understand the significance of the
different encryption algorithms but the main
areas to focus on are:
 The
 The
benefits of encryption in a DB context
downside to encryption in a DB context
 The business environment in which encryption would
be useful
 What and how you should encrypt if you decide
encryption would be useful
 How encryption would fit into your overall DB
security policy
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And a personal opinion
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My view:
 If
someone truly wants to get into your
database, they will probably manage it
 The biggest risk to data is accidental or
casual intrusion
 People will lose pen drives – but an encrypted
pen drive should not be too much of a
problem
 Should we focus less on the main database
and more on data storage?
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References
1.
2.
3.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/cc278098.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/bb934049.aspx
http://www.tropsoft.com/strongenc/des3.htm
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