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In the fast-paced world of technology, data security is a top priority. With the ever-increasing amount of data being handled, SQL Server 2017 has become a preferred choice for database management systems (DBMS). This post will focus on security best practices for SQL Server 2017 to help you safeguard your data, mitigate potential threats, and maintain the trust of your clients.

The first step in securing your SQL Server 2017 is to ensure that you are using the latest version. This not only grants you access to the latest features but also ensures that your system is protected against known vulnerabilities. SQL Server 2017 also introduces several security enhancements over SQL Server 2016, MySQL 5.7, and DB2 11.1, including improved encryption, better auditing, and row-level security.

One of the key security features introduced in SQL Server 2017 is Always Encrypted. This feature ensures that your sensitive data is always encrypted within your database system, in motion or at rest. You can enable Always Encrypted by using the following T-SQL command:

ALTER DATABASE your_database_name
SET ENCRYPTION ON;

In addition to data encryption, user authentication and authorization are critical components of SQL Server security. SQL Server 2017 supports both Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication. Windows Authentication is generally recommended because it uses a series of encrypted messages to authenticate users, whereas SQL Server Authentication uses a username and password pair.

SQL Server 2017 also supports row-level security (RLS), a feature that allows you to control access to rows in a database table based on the characteristics of the user. This is especially useful when you want to restrict data access at a granular level. Implementing RLS involves creating a security policy with a predicate function that determines access. Here is an example of such a predicate function:

CREATE FUNCTION security.fn_securitypredicate(@username nvarchar(256))
RETURNS TABLE
WITH SCHEMABINDING
AS
RETURN SELECT 1 AS fn_securitypredicate_result WHERE @username = USER_NAME();

Lastly, don't forget about the importance of auditing in SQL Server security. SQL Server 2017 has robust auditing capabilities that can track and log activities happening in the server. You can set up SQL Server Audit to write audit logs to a file, the Windows Security log, or the Windows Application log. This allows you to keep a detailed record of who did what in your server, which is essential for detecting and investigating possible security breaches.

In conclusion, SQL Server 2017 offers a wide range of features to secure your data and maintain its integrity. By keeping your software up to date, employing strong encryption, managing user authentication and authorization well, implementing row-level security, and leveraging the robust auditing capabilities, you can establish a solid security framework for your data. Remember that data security should always be a top priority in your organization, and SQL Server 2017 is there to support you with its advanced security features.