2025-10-15
156 reads
Security
The Security of Old Tech
Older technology can introduce security issues, along with performance ones. Keeping your systems somewhat up to date is important for security.
2025-09-12
117 reads
Password Guidance
Passwords are essential and also a problem in many organizations. Guidance has changed over the years and Steve has a few thoughts on what's recommended today.
2025-09-10
160 reads
Zero-Trust Architecture for Cloud-Based AI Systems
Zero-Trust Architecture (ZTA) emerges as a strong security paradigm for cloud-based AI systems, fundamentally operating on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” Unlike conventional security models, ZTA assumes potential compromise exists within the network and requires continuous verification of every access request regardless of origin.
2025-07-09
Cloning Master Admin User Permissions in Amazon RDS for SQL Server with Fine-Grained Control
This article explores how to securely clone the master user permissions in Amazon RDS for SQL Server using a custom stored procedure, usp_rds_clone_login. It outlines a step-by-step process to generate, review, and apply a script that replicates server- and database-level access from the master user to a new login without directly exposing elevated credentials. The guide emphasizes the principle of least privilege, supports named account management, and enables transparent, auditable permission handling for DBAs and applications. Designed for secure and scalable environments, this solution enhances operational security while maintaining administrative flexibility in Amazon RDS.
2025-07-09
1,221 reads
Are Data Breaches Inevitable?
Steve examines the idea that we might all have a data breach at some point.
2025-05-16
100 reads
More Supply Chain Attacks
Code is vulnerable to supply chain attacks, which aren't something many of us think about.
2025-03-21
126 reads
Lower Your Attack Surface Area
We all know security is important, but we sometimes make the job harder when we don't handle data appropriately.
2025-03-19
213 reads
List the Databases To Which You Have Access
Explanation: sys.databases contains information about all databases on the SQL Server instance. • HAS_DBACCESS(name) = 1 filters out the databases you dont have access to. •ORDER BY name sorts the result alphabetically.
2025-03-04
436 reads
Is Ransomware Fading?
There is a report that less ransomware ransom is being paid. Perhaps that's a good sign for all of us.
2025-02-19
90 reads
Blogs
Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference — Barcelona 2026
By James Serra
Microsoft shared a broad set of Fabric, Power BI, and SQL updates at FabCon...
Au Revoir for now
By Steve Jones
No, I’m not quitting or retiring. Just going on vacation, but I leave tonight...
Forums
Let's Talk Certifications
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Let's Talk Certifications, which is...
The Hidden Security Risks of Role Combination in SSAS Tabular
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Security Risks of...
The Empty Aggregate
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Empty Aggregate
Question of the Day
The Empty Aggregate
I have this table in a SQL Server 2025 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CustomerOrder] ( [OrderID] [int] NULL, [CustomerID] [int] NULL, [total] [money] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GOWhat is returned from this code? (answers are for the sum and then the count)
SELECT SUM(total) AS sum,
COUNT(total) AS count
FROM dbo.CustomerOrder;
See possible answers