CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javamysqlsecurityweb-applicationsh2
Elio
Elio

Reputation: 463

Securing sensitive data in a DB,is using H2 worth it?

I am designing a web application at the moment, and one of the requirements is to secure the user credentials as well as their roles. Now ofc besides the usual pwd hashing + salt +.... I was thinking of putting those specific tables in an encrypted H2 database, and the rest of the data ina MySQL db. the advantages of H2 in my case are: in-memory storage, so means faster access; encrypted db so an additional layer of security in case the server gets compromised.

My question: is this a common practice when an additional security layer is demanded? meaning is it a good idea to seperate the login info (in my case, it is the sensitive data) from the other data?

Thanks

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1305

Answers (3)

Elio
Elio

Reputation: 463

Ok I got my answer at the security forum, for those interested this is the link https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/7062/securing-sensitive-data-in-a-db-is-using-h2-worth-it

Upvotes: 1

Umesh Rajbhandari
Umesh Rajbhandari

Reputation: 1282

If the application is very simple I think you can use only one type of database, e.g. MySql. You can hash the password before storing in the database. Note that hashing is different from encryption in that you cannot get the actual password from the hashed password. When a user tries logging in you hash the user entered password and compare the hash value that is already stored in the database. If a salt value is used then it would be extremely difficult for a hacker to get the actual password even if she has access to the hashed password.

For a more complex application I suggest using one of the ldap servers (e.g. openladp). Then you get the password policies and hashing for free.

Upvotes: 0

Joachim Sauer
Joachim Sauer

Reputation: 308159

I don't think that this really adds a relevant layer of security.

If your server is compromised and your server can verify the credentials of users, then whoever compromised your server has the necessary data to verify it as well (for example: you'd need to store the encryption key/password on the server to decrypt the DB, unless you enter it on each startup).

And: it complicates your setup quite a bit, which in itself can lead to lots of security problems ("Why can't component A read this file? Oh, I'll just make it world-readable"). Simplicity can be good for security.

Upvotes: 0

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