Date: 11/18/05 (SQL Server) Keywords: database, sql, security, google Yesterday after lunch, I got one of those famous, hurried "critical" requests to export some data to a vendor for an important project. Someone from our Stock Administration team insisted on meeting with me to give me a USB drive to get the database image. Apparently, they needed someone to import the data on our system, then export it in a format requested by the vendor in order to test and configure a new offering for us. I was already irritated that yet another team had failed to document and obtain resources for their data requirements, therefore making an emergency for me that very important people would hear about if I didn't follow through. I did what I aways do, I said I'd look at it and see what could be done. Oh man...you know what I saw? This dude had been walking around all over the place with this little flash drive in is pocket with stock administration data for EVERYONE IN OUR COMPANY. This data included Social Security Numbers, Birthday's, Names, Addresses, Salaries, and Stock Options. AND he wanted me to just send it off to some company to play around with. I was pretty mad, especially when he had his manager call me to complain. I explained that this was in violation with our SOX commitments and that the data would have to be at the very least cleansed before it was sent out. I also mentioned that I didn't particularly want my SSN sent to parts unknown for a proof-of-concept project. After that I found a kind way of mentioning that carrying around sensitive data in an unsecure format is grounds for termination. Then his manager called the CIO. All the better, at least the CIO understands INFORMATION and the protection thereof! I didn't have a clue how to cleanse data, but it had to get done fast, so I did a google search for tools, and I found this little gem. The DTM Data Generator contained a robust set of tools for analyzing the SQL tables field by field, while retaining the referential integrity. It's very versatile. I'm definately going to use this again. I think I might finally generate those mean sets of data for our QA team to test against. This tool rocks. Source: http://community.livejournal.com/sqlserver/37213.html
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