Organizations and businesses must use a range of measures, protocols, and tools to protect their databases from cybercriminals. If breached, malicious actors can gain access to sensitive information that they can use for financial gain. Security teams must adapt and constantly improve to protect against ever-evolving security threats, and maintain the integrity of a database.

This article will discuss the major database security threats, and how you can prevent them.

1. SQL Injection Attacks

SQL injection is the most common threat. This attack is performed by entering a query into a SQL form, and if the database interprets the result as “true” it enables access to the database.  These attacks usually target relational database management systems (RDBMS) based on the SQL programming language. 

Databases not based on SQL (NoSQL) are not susceptible to such attacks. Instead, NoSQL databases are targeted by queries delivered by an end-user that uses commands to execute malware. 

Both methods are equally threatening, getting around verification systems by obtaining credentials and then exposing the structure and content of the database. A successful attack would give an attacker free reign of everything contained within the database. 

2. Malware

Malware is designed to target vulnerabilities on a network, granting access to a database, or causing damage to it. These vulnerabilities relate to unprotected endpoints on a network that can be exploited via a range of different attacks. 

For IT teams to protect against malware attacks, it is important to identify the attack surface of a network. The attack surface refers to the number of vulnerabilities on a network that a cybercriminal could target. 

3. Denial of Service (DoS/DDoS) Attacks

A Denial of Service (DoS) attack occurs when a database server receives more requests than it can process, causing the system to (Read more...)