SQL Server Security Distilled

SQL Server is the dominant relational database in the Windows market and data security is a huge and growing concern for all businesses. Securing SQL Server is one of the most important responsibilities of the SQL Server professional.

SQL Server Distilled, Second Edition is a very carefully researched, clearly explained book on securing SQL Server, by an author who knows SQL Server inside and out. If you follow the practical guidelines that are clearly set out in this book, then you stand a very good chance of making sure that the data stored in your database is secure and that the conversation between your applications and the database is secure (preventing SQL injection attacks, etc.). For example, any database administrator who implemented the security precautions detailed in the book would not have been affected by the infamous Slammer virus.

This second edition offers practical advice on how to implement good practices that will ward off future viruses before they are even created, and it contains new content that reflects all updates to SQL Server's security mechanisms.

Morris Lewis has been smitten with Structured Query Language since the first time his professor wrote SELECT * FROM AUTHORS on the chalkboard 14 years ago. He has worked with no other database server since he first installed SQL Server 4.21a on his 16MHZ Intel 386 computer with all of the 32 megabytes of RAM running Windows NT 3.51 many years ago. With the mantra, "It is O.K. to worry if they really are out to get you," he has focused on all aspects of securing Windows and SQL Server since he connected his first server to the Internet. Now, he runs a training and consulting company, Holistech Inc., which focuses on helping clients create better and more secure database applications, and teaching them how to avoid the mistakes that can lead to problems in the future.