1. Database Auditing Models Dr. Gabriel

2. 2 Auditing Overview Audit examines: documentation that reflects (from business or individuals); actions, practices, conduct Audit measures: compliance to policies, procedures, processes and laws

3. 3 Definitions Audit/auditing: process of examining and validating documents, data, processes, procedures, systems Audit log: document that contains all activities that are being audited ordered in a chronological manner Audit objectives: set of business rules, system controls, government regulations, or security policies

4. 4 Definitions (continued) Auditor: person authorized to audit Audit procedure: set of instructions for the auditing process Audit report: document that contains the audit findings Audit trail: chronological record of document changes, data changes, system activities, or operational events

5. 5 Definitions (continued) Data audit: chronological record of data changes stored in log file or database table object Database auditing: chronological record of database activities Internal auditing: examination of activities conducted by staff members of the audited organization External auditing

6. 6 Auditing Activities Evaluate the effectiveness and adequacy of the audited entity Ascertain and review the reliability and integrity of the audited entity Ensure the organization complies with policies, procedures, regulations, laws, and standards of the government and the industry Establish plans, policies, and procedures for conducting audits

7. 7 Auditing Activities (continued) Keep abreast of all changes to audited entity Keep abreast of updates and new audit regulations Provide all audit details to all company employees involved in the audit Publish audit guidelines and procedures Act as liaison between the company and the external audit team

8. 8 Auditing Activities (continued) Act as a consultant to architects, developers, and business analysts Organize and conduct internal audits Ensure all contractual items are met by the organization being audited Identify the audit types that will be used

9. 9 Auditing Activities (continued) Identify security issues that must be addressed Provide consultation to the Legal Department

10. 10 Auditing Environment Auditing examples: –Financial auditing –Security auditing Audit also measures compliance with government regulations and laws Audits take place in an environment: –Auditing environment –Database auditing environment

11. 11 Auditing Environment (continued)

12. 12 Auditing Environment (continued)

13. 13 Auditing Process Quality Assurance (QA): –Ensure system is bug free and functioning according to its specifications –Ensure product is not defective as it is being produced Auditing process: ensures that the system is working and complies with the policies, regulations and laws

14. 14 Auditing Process (continued) Performance monitoring: observes if there is degradation in performance at various operation times Auditing process flow: –System development life cycle –Auditing process: Understand the objectives Review, verify, and validate the system Document the results

15. 15 Auditing Process (continued)

16. 16 Auditing Process (continued)

17. 17 Auditing Objectives Established as a part of the development process of the entity to be audited Reasons: –Complying Identification of policies, regulations, and standards that company must comply with –Informing All relevant parties to be informed about these policies, regulations, and standards –Planning Plan and document auditing procedures –Executing Evaluation, verification, and review of the auditing entityy

18. 18 Auditing Objectives (continued) Top ten database auditing objectives: –Data integrity Validity of data and RI –Application users and roles User roles correspond to their responsibilities and skills –Data confidentiality Data remains private for unauthorized users –Access control Login time and session duration –Data changes Audit train of all data changes

19. 19 Auditing Objectives (continued) Top ten database auditing objectives (continued): –Data structure changes Audit trail of all db structural changes –Database or application availability Recording all downtimes, their duration, and reason –Change control Tracking of changes to be made to the db or app –Physical access Tracking physical access to the app or db where they reside –Auditing reports Generation of auditing reports automatically or on-demand

20. 20 Auditing Classifications and Types Industry and business sectors use different classifications of audits Each classification can differ from business to business

21. 21 Audit Classifications Internal audit: –Conducted by a staff member of the company being audited –Purpose: Verify that all auditing objectives are met Investigate a situation prompted by an internal event or incident Investigate a situation prompted by an external request

22. 22 Audit Classifications (continued) External audit: –Conducted by a party outside the company that is being audited –Purpose: Investigate the financial or operational state of the company Verify that all auditing objectives are met

23. 23 Audit Classifications (continued) Automatic audit: –Prompted and performed automatically (without human intervention) –Used mainly for systems and database systems –Administrators read and interpret reports; inference engine or artificial intelligence Manual audit: performed completely by humans Hybrid audit

24. 24 Audit Types Financial audit: ensures that all financial transactions are accounted for and comply with the law Security audit: evaluates if the system is as secure Compliance audit: system complies with industry standards, government regulations, or partner and client policies

25. 25 Audit Types (continued) Operational audit: verifies if an operation is working according to the policies of the company Investigative audit: performed in response to an event, request, threat, or incident to verify integrity of the system Product audit: performed to ensure that the product complies with industry standards

26. 26 Benefits and Side Effects of Auditing Benefits: –Enforces company policies and government regulations and laws –Lowers the incidence of security violations –Identifies security gaps and vulnerabilities –Provides an audit trail of activities –Provides means to observe and evaluate operations of the audited entity

27. 27 Benefits and Side Effects of Auditing (continued) Benefits (continued): –Provides a sense of security and confidence –Identifies or removes doubts –Makes the organization more accountable –Develops controls that can be used for purposes other than auditing

28. 28 Benefits and Side Effects of Auditing (continued) Side effects: –Performance problems –Too many reports and documents –Disruption to the operations of the audited entity –Consumption of resources, and added costs from downtime –Friction between operators and auditor –Same from a database perspective

29. 29 Auditing Models Can be implemented with built-in features or your own mechanism Information recorded: –State of the object before the action was taken –Description of the action that was performed –Name of the user who performed the action

30. 30 Auditing Models (continued)

31. 31 Simple Auditing Model 1 Easy to understand and develop Registers audited entities in the audit model repository Chronologically tracks activities performed Entities: user, table, or column Activities: DML transaction or logon and off times

32. 32 Simple Auditing Model 1 (continued)

33. 33 Simple Auditing Model 1 (continued) Control columns: –Placeholder for data inserted automatically when a record is created or updated (date and time record was created and updated) –Can be distinguished with a CTL prefix

34. 34 Simple Auditing Model 1 (continued)

35. 35 Simple Auditing Model 2 Only stores the column value changes There is a purging and archiving mechanism; reduces the amount of data stored Does not register an action that was performed on the data Ideal for auditing a column or two of a table

36. 36 Simple Auditing Model 2 (continued)

37. 37 Advanced Auditing Model Called “advanced” because of its flexibility Repository is more complex Registers all entities: fine grained auditing level Can handle users, actions, tables, columns

38. 38 Advanced Auditing Model (continued)

39. 39 Advanced Auditing Model (continued)

40. 40 Historical Data Model Used when a record of the whole row is required Typically used in most financial applications

41. 41 Historical Data Model (continued)

42. 42 Auditing Applications Actions Model Used for auditing specific action or operation such as issuing a refund

43. 43 C2 Security Rating Issued by National Security Administration Indicates satisfaction of requirements set by the Dept of Defense –OK to implement in military and government applications Given to Microsoft SQL Server Utilizes DACLs (discretionary access control lists) for security and audit activities Requirements: –Server must be configured as a C2 system –Windows Integrated Authentication is supported –SQL native security is not supported –Only transactional replication is supported

44. 44 Questions?