Database security

Most databases secure their information from printed sources. On occasion, however, a subsequent letter to the editor of a pubHcation by a company mentioned in the article will point out an error. Unfortunately, these corrections are not always picked up by the respective databases that entered the initial data. 

The repository may range from a specific directory on a server, with a work group password protection, to a software package-controlled database repository implementing full database security controls. There may also be a requirement to produce and store multiple renditions of a document within the repository. Specific validation issues include ... 

Database Security. At the level of the EDMS application, access is governed by unique user ID and password combinations. Here, database security serves as the guard at the door who requests to see your badge before allowing entry. The system administrator maintains an updated register of valid IDs and passwords for gaining access to the system linked, typically, to the current list of employees maintained by human resources. ... 

The final product should be well-documented and address hardware, networking capabilities, network and database security, and quality control. Protocols for daily and weekly back-ups are required. Daily back-ups onto tape or CDs should be stored in fire-resistant vaults on-site. Weekly off-site storage of back-up media is part of best practice. 

A web-based approach to data access can be considered and issues such as access control, security, and levels of access must be addressed (24). Scalability and back-up capabilities are among the issues that may influence decisions at this level. Further guidance from the Society of Clinical Research Associates and published literature (25) can assist with system documentation, system and database security, maintenance of data integrity, regulatory, and compliance issues (23). 

What are the relationships between data models and database security ... 

This ability to specify database structures, through use of schemas, enables efficient and effective management of data resources. This is necessary for access control. The use of one or more subschemas generally simplifies access to databases. It may also provide for database security and integrity for authorized users of the DBMS. Since complex physical (computer) structures for data may be specified, independent of the logical structure of the situation that is perceived by DBMS users, it is thereby possible to improve the performance of an existing and operational database without altering the user interface to the database. This provides for simplicity in use of the DBMS. 

It is important to note that completion of the above steps does not transfer the requested data into the database of the requesting user, except perhaps in some temporary storage fashion. The very good reason why this is not done is that it would result in database redundancy and also increase database security difficulties. 

Workload status and the justification of equipment Regulatory agency compliance Audit trail for all database transactions Security class or hierarchy... 

The hardware and software used to implement LIMS systems must be vahdated. Computers and networks need to be examined for potential impact of component failure on LIMS data. Security concerns regarding control of access to LIMS information must be addressed. Software, operating systems, and database management systems used in the implementation of LIMS systems must be vahdated to protect against data cormption and loss. Mechanisms for fault-tolerant operation and LIMS data backup and restoration should be documented and tested. One approach to vahdation of LIMS hardware and software is to choose vendors whose products are precertified however, the ultimate responsibihty for vahdation remains with the user. Vahdating the LIMS system s operation involves a substantial amount of work, and an adequate vahdation infrastmcture is a prerequisite for the constmction of a dependable and flexible LIMS system. 

Although the code is based on well-recognized models referenced in the literature, some of the underlying models are based on "older" theory which has since been improved. The code does not treat complex terrain or chemical reactivity other than ammonia and water. The chemical database in the code is a subset of the AIChE s DIPPR database. The user may not modify or supplement the database and a fee is charged for each chemical added to the standard database distributed with the code. The code costs 20,000 and requires a vendor supplied security key in the parallel port before use. 

Commercial LIMS appeared on the market in the early 1980s. These operated on then state-of-the-art minicomputers such as the 16-bit Hewlett-Packard 1000 and 32-bit Digital VAX system. By the late 1980s, several DOS-based PC LIMS operating on the primitive PC network were available. By the early 1990s, most LIMS started using commercial relational database technology and client/server systems, which operated on UNIX or the new Windows NT platform. The most advanced LIMS utilize server-based architecture to ensure system security and control. 

Migrating only the raw data - the characters, numbers, bits, and bytes - forward is not enough to ensure usability. The meta data and the context for the application or database must also be migrated forward. Meta data are the code to the machine-stored bits and bytes. Meta data are the data about the data. They describe the data in the database. The meta data documentation describes the method of data capture, the application used to access the data, security rules for the tables and columns, and other descriptive and procedural information. For derived or calculated data, the algorithm or protocol that was used must be known. The documentation then becomes something else that must be preserved. Without the meta data, the reader will only see a series of alphabetic characters. Without the entire described context associated with the data, the data have no meaning. 

All data must, of course, be searchable, retrievable, and subject to acceptance or rejection based on both automated and retrospective QC analysis. Reports must be flexible in content yet easily assembled, intuitively understandable, and easily shared with appropriate security and yes, it would be nice if the reports themselves could become, like the assay protocols, version controlled, searchable documents residing in an appropriately indexed relational database. These are just the basic requirements. 

Authentication and tracking logs will be used to produce usage statistics. This information does not contain any personally identifiable information. MetaPress reserves the right to have logs and databases analyzed by external service providers, in which case every effort will be made to protect the security, integrity and privacy of the data. 

For example, C++ works with an OO model in main memory but leaves persistent data up to you you can t send a message to an object in filestore. If you can secure a good OO database you re in luck but otherwise, typically you re stuck with plain old files or a relational database and must to think how to encode the objects. Your class-layer design should initially defer the question of how objects are distributed between hosts and media. 

The first form led to client-server-styled systems, with the client combining user-interface and application logic and communicating via SQL requests with a database server that dealt with persistence, transactions, security, and so on. All communication involved database processing requests in SQL, and clients did not communicate with one another (except indirectly through shared data on the server). 

Links between types represent ary association of the members of one type with the members of the other type no matter how the association is implemented. Within a single component, associations typically may be implemented with memory address pointers within a single database, associations may be implemented as pairs of keys in a table. Between components, an association represents a form of identification that each one recognizes as referring to a single object within itself. For example, we could draw an association between Person (real ones) and the Personal Records in a national Social Security database the Social Security number identifies members of one type with those of the other. 

Biometric security systems use biometric technology combined with some type of locking mechanism to control access to specific assets. In order to access an asset controlled by a biometric security system, an individual s biometric trait must be matched with an existing profile stored in a database. If there is a match between the two, the locking mechanism (which could be a physical lock, such as at a doorway an electronic lock, such as at a computer terminal or some other type of lock) is disengaged, and the individual is given access to the asset. 

Once a database is established, it is made available to other laboratories through the company s secured intranet, so that the information therein can be updated, retrieved and reviewed. The resulting structural library can be referenced throughout the lifetime of the drug for rapid identification of impurities, degradants, and metabolites. 

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