Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
important, the following metaphor was adopted: perimeter security cre-
ates a “hard crust and a soft chewy center.” The focus on internal security
aims at hardening and securing this soft, chewy center so that even attacks
initiated from the inside will be addressed. Database security certainly falls
into this category; after all, databases are perhaps the best example of crit-
ical infrastructure that has always been (and will always remain) deep
within the core.
One approach to securing the core is to use the same products that are
used to secure the perimeter within your internal network. This is often the
approach taken by security and network groups, because these products are
something with which they are familiar. Firewalls, for example, can be used
within the corporate network to segment an internal network, assuring, for
example, that the support department does not have access to the HR net-
work. This has two positive effects. First, insider threats are reduced because
insiders are not free to roam the entire corporate network and are limited to
their department's servers. Because 70% of all security incidents are com-
mitted by insiders, this can have a big impact. In addition, if external
attackers are able to compromise one of the firewalls or are able to find a
way onto the corporate network, they still have access only to a certain seg-
ment of the overall network.
In the same way, IDS/IPS systems can be used within the internal net-
work. IDS sensors can be deployed internally to monitor intrusions from
insiders or outsiders who have managed to breach the perimeter. But most
important, pushing into the core is usually associated with more granular
access control rules, deep packet inspection, and advanced technologies
such as application security and database security products.
2.5
Application security
One of the main areas that is considered a primary initiative in securing the
core involves application security—and more specifically Web application
security. Although the topic of application security is broad and addresses all
types of application architectures and frameworks, much of the focus of both
security technologies and security initiatives involves Web applications.
This is a result of the huge adoption of e-commerce and e-business, the
fact that many applications have been rewritten using Web technologies,
and the fact that by making these applications available to remote users
(and often external users), security concerns increase as do vulnerabilities.
The Web application model is inherently insecure. For example, Web appli-
cations run most of their processing on the server and the browser merely
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