In a new survey conducted by Unisphere Research, results showed that even as many Database Administrators (DBAs) are willing to assume much needed security practices in their daily duties, there is an overwhelming communication disconnect between these data managers and the security and executive leadership responsible for the data security at the end of the day.
The report surveyed 761 members of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) in September 2010. Behind human error, the most commonly cited challenges to database security are insider hacks and the abuse of privileges (44%).
The key take away from the report is that there is a disconnect between what DBAs know needs to be done at the technical level, versus the amount of support and awareness the executives on the business side actually give to them.
Monitoring database access is part of the solution, but addressing the misuse of privilege requires going beyond that. It is just as essential to continually audit privileges to ensure that employees and partners only have access to the minimum amount of sensitive data necessary to perform their duties. This requirement for separation of duties is also a cornerstone of virtually all compliance regulations.
One in five respondents "fear that their organization will experience a major data breach over the coming months, but few are aware of the potential costs to their organizations."Among those respondents that are aware of where data breaches have occurred, they cite "a pattern of inside abuse and errors."
