You’re a Database Administrator. How do you ensure your security knowledge is up to date?

1 Follow industry news and blogs

Staying up to date on the latest security trends, incidents, and research is easy when you follow reputable sources of industry news and blogs. Database Weekly is a great newsletter for database news, articles, tips, and events. DBA Stack Exchange is a Q&A site where you can ask and answer questions about database administration and security. Additionally, Oracle Security Blog covers Oracle database security topics such as patching, auditing, encryption, and compliance. SQL Server Security Blog also covers SQL Server security topics like authentication, authorization, encryption, and auditing.

2 Take online courses and webinars

To improve your security knowledge, consider taking online courses and webinars that cover various aspects of database security. These can help you learn new skills, refresh your existing knowledge, and earn certifications. For instance, you can take a course such as Database Security Essentials to learn the fundamentals of database security, or a course such as Securing MongoDB to secure a NoSQL database. Additionally, you can attend a webinar such as SQL Injection Prevention to learn how to prevent one of the most common and dangerous database attacks.

3 Join online communities and forums

Enhancing your security knowledge can be achieved by joining online communities and forums, such as the Database Administrators Community, OWASP, and Reddit Database. These offer a platform to network, share experiences, ask questions, and get feedback. The Database Administrators Community is a great place to discuss database administration and security topics with other DBAs and experts. OWASP is a community dedicated to improving the security of web applications and databases. Reddit Database is a subreddit where you can post and comment on database-related topics, including security.

4 Attend conferences and events

Attending conferences and events that feature database security topics and speakers is another way to update your security knowledge. These can provide you with insights, best practices, and case studies from industry leaders and practitioners. Data Connectors is a series of events covering cybersecurity topics, including database security, across different regions and cities. PASS Summit is a conference that covers SQL Server topics, including security, performance, development, and administration. Oracle OpenWorld is a conference that covers Oracle topics, such as database security, cloud, analytics, and development.

5 Practice and test your skills

To ensure your security knowledge is up to date, practice and test your skills regularly. You can set up your own database environment, apply security best practices, and perform security audits and assessments. Additionally, you can use online tools and platforms to test your security skills, such as Hack The Box - a platform with realistic and challenging scenarios for ethical hacking - SQL Fiddle - a tool to test and share SQL queries and scripts - and SQLZoo - a tool to learn and practice SQL, including security-related topics.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?