DB2 Native Encryption for Data at Rest
By Tom Nonmacher
In today's high-stakes world of data security, protecting your data at rest is as important as safeguarding it during transmission. One of the most effective ways to secure your data at rest is through encryption. IBM's DB2 11.5 introduces Native Encryption, a robust feature that provides a high level of security for your data. This blog post will explore DB2's Native Encryption and its benefits, and we'll also draw comparisons with other technologies such as SQL Server 2019, MySQL 8.0, Azure SQL, and Azure Synapse.
DB2's Native Encryption offers a comprehensive solution to protect data at rest. It provides a security-rich environment to protect your sensitive data without the need for application changes. Native Encryption encrypts the entire database, including spill files, backup images, and transaction logs. It uses an industry-standard Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm with a key length of 256 bits.
-- DB2 Native Encryption syntax
-- ENCRYPT DATABASE database-alias WITH KEY LENGTH 256
Comparatively, SQL Server 2019 offers Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) to perform real-time I/O encryption and decryption of the data and log files. TDE acts at the file level, which is a lower level of abstraction compared to DB2's database-level encryption. However, it is just as effective for protecting data at rest.
-- SQL Server 2019 TDE syntax
-- CREATE DATABASE ENCRYPTION KEY WITH ALGORITHM = AES_256
MySQL 8.0, on the other hand, provides at-rest encryption capabilities through the InnoDB storage engine, which supports data encryption for tables stored in file-per-table tablespaces. Similar to DB2 and SQL Server, it uses the AES algorithm for encryption.
-- MySQL 8.0 InnoDB table encryption syntax
-- ALTER TABLE tbl_name ENCRYPTION='Y'
Azure SQL Database and Azure Synapse Analytics utilize Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) to secure data at rest. This service is enabled by default for all new Azure SQL databases and data warehouses, providing a seamless security solution without the need for configuration changes in your applications.
In conclusion, DB2's Native Encryption provides a comprehensive and effective solution for securing data at rest. While similar to features available in SQL Server 2019, MySQL 8.0, Azure SQL, and Azure Synapse, DB2's Native Encryption excels in offering database-level encryption, providing a higher level of abstraction. Regardless of the platform you choose, ensuring your data at rest is encrypted should be a vital part of your data security strategy.