Page 307 - DCAP103_Principle of operating system

Principles of Operating Systems

Notes 9.5.1.3 SSL Encryption in MS SQL
Here, we consider SQL Server 2000 for the discussion. SQL Server uses Tabular Data Stream
(TDS) packets for exchanging commands with its client counterparts. These TDS packets are
handled by Net Library protocols, which enable communication between the SQL Server and
its clients over a network. In SQL Server 2000, these Net Libraries can be configured using SQL
Server Network Utility for Secure Socket Layer encryption that uses a Super Socket Net Library,
which aids other Net Libraries.
SSL encryption can be implemented between SQL Server 2000 and its clients by obtaining a
certificate from an appropriate Certificate Authority and installing it on the server. Then all the
clients need to be configured to trust the issuing CA. Finally, the protocol encryption has to be
forced using the Server Network Utility. A detailed description of Net Libraries and implementing
SSL over them is available here.

Figure 9.2: SSL Tunnel

9.5.1.4 SSL Encryption in Oracle

Oracle database uses various features of the Oracle Advanced Security option to provide security
to the enterprise networks. The SSL feature of the Oracle Advanced Security option enables a
secure communication between Oracle Database server and client by encrypting the traffic. In
addition, it also provides authentication of server or client or both. This SSL functionality can
also be combined with other authentication methods supported by Oracle Advanced Security,
thereby using the SSL encryption feature alone.

9.5.1.5 Securing Oracle Network Traffic

Oracle provides a platform independent networking infrastructure for accessing databases,
which is called Net8. This Net8 product with the Oracle Advanced Security option has a
feature to use Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to secure the traffic between the client and the
server. Though this mechanism protects against eavesdropping, it does not protect against
the attacks discussed in the previous article as the database server and database driver are
separated from the SSH tunnel.

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