Overview of Data Warehouse Security

Data warehousing poses its own set of challenges for security. One major challenge is that enterprise data warehouses are often very large systems, serving many user communities with varying security needs. Thus, while data warehouses require a flexible and powerful security infrastructure, the security capabilities must operate in an environment that has stringent performance and scalability requirements.

Why is Security Necessary for a Data Warehouse?

Many of the basic requirements for security are well-known, and apply equally to a data warehouse as they would to any other system: The applications must prevent unauthorized users from accessing or modifying data; the applications and underlying data must not be susceptible to data theft by hackers; the data must be available to the right users at the right time; and the system must keep a record of activities performed by its users.

These requirements are perhaps even more important in a data warehouse because a warehouse contains data consolidated from multiple sources, and therefore, from the perspective of an individual trying to steal information, a data warehouse can be one of the most lucrative targets in an enterprise. In addition, a robust security infrastructure can often vastly improve the effectiveness or reduce the costs of a data warehouse environment.

Some typical customer scenarios for data warehouse security include the following:

• An enterprise is managing a data warehouse that will be widely used by many divisions and subsidiaries. This enterprise needs a security infrastructure that ensures the employees of each division be able to view only the data that is relevant to their own division, while also allowing employees in its corporate offices to view data for all divisions and subsidiaries.
• An enterprise’s data warehouse stores personal information. Privacy laws may govern the use of such personal information. The data warehouse must handle data so as to adhere to these laws.
• An enterprise sells data from a data warehouse to its clients. Those clients may view only the data to which they have purchased or to which they have subscribed. They should never be permitted to see the data of other clients Overview of Data Warehouse Security

  Data warehousing poses its own set of challenges for security. One major challenge is that enterprise data warehouses are often very large systems, serving many user communities with varying security needs. Thus, while data warehouses require a flexible and powerful security infrastructure, the security capabilities must operate in an environment that has stringent performance and scalability requirements.