Database and Network Security, Computer Science Essay Example

The database administrator.

The database administrator is responsible for the installation and maintenance of the database and the associated software and hardware (Mullins 2013). The administrator also creates user accounts thereby allowing the users to access the database. He or she also monitors the actions that take place in the database. The administrator has special privileges and access rights that are exclusive to him or her. (Halverson 2016). The administrator is also responsible for making sure that the legitimate users are able to access the database.

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Who administers the network?

The network administrator. The individual who holds this position is involved in installing, watch over and maintenance of the network and the hardware and software components that are associated with the network. The individual monitors, analyses the network, conducts performance tweaking and troubleshoots the network to ensure reliability and availability.

Who coordinates the database and networking to make sure that the entire system runs smoothly?

The system administrator. This individual oversees the overall functioning of the system which includes both the database and the network. The individual, therefore, controls the coordination of both the network and the database generally.

What are the key issues involved in the use of communications technology to access data within the organization?

The communications technology to the database servers has provided a lot of loopholes for criminals to be able to access and manipulate the data that is stored in the database for their own benefit. They may also render the system unusable and also deny the legitimate users of the data space to access it. The main concerns over remote access technologies to the database are the following:

Unauthorized disclosure.

These are issues that are a threat to the confidentiality of the data stored in the database. This is where an attacker can intercept in between the communication line and he or she is able to access the information that is being transmitted in between a user and the database server. This means that the attacker may use this information to his or advantage. The attacker may also be able to access the database through the communication channels when they are able to overcome the access control protection methods that have been put up (Stallings &Brown 2015).

Disruption.

This mainly involves rendering the system unavailable. This may occur by actual damage of the physical transmission medium by the use of malicious software, such as worms and Trojan horses. The remote access capability gives the attackers a loophole to deny legitimate users of the system the use of the system resources. This may be done by the denial of service attacks whereby the attacker sends a stream of requests to the server making it occupied and hence cannot serve the requests of the legitimate users (Stallings & Brown 2015).

Also hacking of the system by third parties. The provision of remote access technologies has provided hackers with a means to attack and access the database remotely and make variations to their own benefit. This means that the integrity of the data is lost, personal and confidential data is accessed by third parties (Ciampa 2009). This means that the hacker can steal the data, delete the data or may even disable the access control methods making the system vulnerable.

Costs.

The cost of setting up the communications technology methods is high. The hardware that has to be set up in order to enable the access to data is quite costly. The software that is required so that the hardware components are commercially sold is also expensive. The installation and maintenance of these resources also cost a lot since the experts who carry out these services are expensive for an organization to hire. If the system is attacked it is also expensive to carry out recovery procedures and bring back the system to normalcy. This means the time resource has to be spent and also money, since upgrades may be required.

References

Christina M. Bird (2010). An Introduction to Secure Remote Access. Auerbach publications.

Mark Ciampa (2009). Network Security Fundamentals (3rd ed). Canada: Course Technology.

Craig S. Mullins (2013). Database Administration (2rd ed).United States: Addison Wesley. Michigan.

Hans-Petter Halverson (2016). Introduction to Database Systems. University of Southeast Norway.

Bobby c., Yury V., Erik B., Maris E., Fuad A., Pete S., Matt G. (2014).Pratical Oracle Database Appliance. Apress

William S.,Lawrie B. (2015). Computer Security Principles and Practice (3rd ed).United States: Pearson Education Inc.