Database Concepts

Topic 1:

We will examine some of the most common threats faced by databases.

• Excessive privileges
• Legitimate privilege abuse
• Database injection attack
• Malware
• Storage media exposure
• Exploitation of vulnerable databases
• Unmanaged sensitive data
• The human factor
• Multi-Layered Security Solutions

Common Threats

Select one of the listed threats. Then research and discuss the mitigation for that specific threat.

Topic 2: Current Event

Describe an instance of a data breach that has been made public in the news.

Describe the cause of the breach.

Investigate what mitigation could have been put in place to avoid the data breach.

Topic 3: Permissions

The SQL Server database provides us with some tools to secure the data. You can control who can get access to the data via permissions and roles. You can encrypt the data so that it cannot be used by an unauthorized user. A multi-layered approach is the best defense plan. In that fashion, each security technique re-enforces the other.

Describe the use of permissions and roles in securing a SQL database.

Topic 4: Encryption

Describe the concept of database encryption. How can encryption be used to provide security in the database? What encryption features are contained in Microsoft SQL Server?

Topic 5: Designing the Report

Describe the steps that you are taking to design your report. What do you believe is the most important factor of report design? How important is the target audience in report design and why?

Topic 6: Using Report Builder

Discuss your experience using Report Builder. What was difficult and what was easy? Discuss whether you think Report Builder is an adequate tool for business use. Research on the Internet and find one other report building tool and summarize what you have learned about it. Provide a link to the tools website.

Topic 7: Data Lake

We explore the concept of Big Data in this unit.

Explain the concept of a data lake.

Topic 8: Use Cases for Big Data

Pick a Big Data use case and explain it.

Topic 9: Core components of Hadoop

Describe the four core components of Hadoop.

Pick two of the core components and explain how they are used.

Topic 10: Current Event

Find an article about Hadoop on the Internet. Share and discuss the article with the class.

Topic 11: The Value of the Cloudera Quickstart VM

You will explore the Hadoop environment using the Cloudera Quickstart system.

What does the Cloudera Quickstart virtual machine provide as a learning environment for Hadoop?

Topic 12: Cloudera Big Data Platform Overview

Find an article on the Cloudera big data platform and share it with the class. Describe the components, benefits, and drawbacks of Clouderas platform.