Re: Looking for advice on database encryption

In response to Thomas Kellerer <spam_eater@gmx.net>:

> Bill Moran wrote on 16.04.2009 21:40:
> > The goal here is that if we're going to encrypt the data, it should
> > be encrypted in such a way that if an attacker gets ahold of a dump
> > of the database, they still can't access the data without the
> > passphrases of the individuals who entered the data.
>
> I'm by far not an expert, but my naive attempt would be to store the the
> database files in an encrypted filesystem.

That was the first suggestion when we started brainstorming ideas.
Unfortunately, it fails to protect us from the most likely attack
vector: SQL Injection/application layer bugs.  In an SQL Injection
(for example) the fact that the filesystem is encrypted does zero
to protect the sensitive data.

--
Bill Moran
http://www.potentialtech.com
http://people.collaborativefusion.com/~wmoran/