Security: Counting the cost of a corrupt database

The amount of unauthorised information security breaches has been rising substantially over the past three years. Research by bodies such as the Computer Security Institute and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US have reflected this trend. Last year a significant 70% of the organisations surveyed by the FBI reported a security incident.

The cost of a database corruption can be enormous, says Andrea Lodolo, technical director, Field Support Group at Computer Associates Africa.

He points to increasing damage inflicted on critical information technology infrastructures, particularly database systems, by hackers and other intruders with malicious intent.

"The incidents of corrupted databases are rising on a global scale," he warns. "The effects - and the costs associated with rectifying the situation - are often underestimated by companies. They can spiral out of control as the `domino effect` of downtime ripples through an organisation."

Lodolo notes that the resulting data loss can be particularly damaging to e-businesses that rely on round-the-clock operation.

Highlighting the number of possible attack mechanisms, he says that respected industry watchers are estimating that there will be 100 000 known viruses in circulation by 2004.

"At that point there will be a new virus reported roughly every hour or two. With the levels of technology as they are today, it is debatable whether many companies, no matter what their size, will be able to protect their mission-critical database administration systems against this - and related - security threats."

Lodolo highlights the need for stricter, more automated database monitoring and control to offset the increasing lack of skilled manpower resources in SA.

"Escalating skills shortages in SA mean that many programmers and system administrators are inadequately trained to deal with security emergencies.

"In the face of a tightening economy, many senior executives select new software and hardware upgrades based on initial cost of acquisition - instead of long-term operational costs and risk analysis.

"Moreover, many of these systems are growing in complexity in the wake of user demands for improved performance, increased capacities and more modern applications," he says.

In suggesting a solution, he underlines the pressing need for companies to adopt automation of the security process. He also spotlights the ability of new-generation database management systems - such as CA`s Unicenter Log Analyzer - to recover a corrupted database system with minimal time delay and manual effort.

"Our system, for example, enables database administrators to quickly examine database log files - from remote sites if necessary - and take the necessary `undo` or `redo` actions immediately. The systems will then fully recover the system transaction data automatically in the shortest time possible before end-users are adversely affected.

"CA`s solutions in database management have been created to minimise outages, while at the same time greatly enhancing the effectiveness of database administration personnel," he adds.

Unicenter Log Analyzer is part of CA`s Unicenter database management solution family that addresses the areas of performance management, database administration, and backup and recovery for mainframe and open systems.