Data is the invisible asset driving business success. Its management rests on the three pillars of accessibility, integrity, and confidentiality. Without them, your company is susceptible to debilitating and costly cyber-criminality, including ransomware, virus, and brute-force hacks. Data breaches diminish the value of your business, result in short-term suspensions of operation, the erosion of consumer confidence in your brand or service, potential fines, and often punitive legal costs.
Of the constantly evolving host of database management systems, MariaDB, with a current market share of around 0.9%, is a popular choice amongst United States-based companies such as Google and Red Hat. MariaDB has ISO 27001 certification of its Information Security Management System in recognition of its superior cryptography, operational safety, risk management, and other enhanced security features. Recently, MariaDB has announced its plans to go public and will hit the public market via an existing NYSE-listed SPAC called Angel Pond. Here’s a trio of ways in which MariaDB is tops for securing your business data.
Access Control and Cryptographical Communication
MariaDB facilitates encryption of both at-rest and in-transit data, with the user responsible for the selection and setting up of the appropriate ciphering level. Supervision of operational security exists across all tasks, enabling the administrator to retain tight control over access and manipulation. For example, MariaDB create temporary table, a useful function for fast access and reuse of results within a singular session, can only be performed by the admin user or if certain users are granted special privileges. MariaDB’s impermeability to invasion by hackers or unauthorized users is fortified further by its advanced cryptography controls. Once encryptions between clients, proxies, databases, as well as on your tables and binary logs have been set up, their functionality can be verified with performance tests.
Auditing and Monitoring of Database Activity
The MariaDB audit plugin is a default inclusion on more recent versions of the database system, and is available for additional installation on any earlier iteration. It logs server activity for each session, recording user and host names, specific query details, which tables were accessed, and what server variables were altered. The Plugin can be set to filter out any unwanted tracking so that the information it provides is relevant to your business’ individual security needs, which makes it easier to audit and analyze. The Audit Plugin is a valuable feature for troubleshooting any performance or application problems, for keeping track of queries, and investigating suspicious activity.
Enhanced Firewall and Data Masking
MariaDB’s firewall plugin intercepts and block queries to protect against malicious and unnecessary network traffic. Meanwhile, its data masking plugin can be configured to conceal sensitive information such as credit card and Social Security numbers. This pseudonymization of information renders the database both Payment Card Industry (PCI) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant. Data masking has an obvious benefit for businesses dealing in financial transactions, medical records, or other forms of confidential client information.
In a sea of options, MariaDB’s community-developed, free and open-source software, is a wise relational database system choice for enterprises, big and small, looking to assume control and secure ownership of the precious data that forms the building blocks of their business.
##
