SQL Server

SQL Server Encryption

Encryption that you cannot restore is not protection. The useful work is choosing what to encrypt, then keeping the keys somewhere the restore can reach.

Encrypt the right layer

Transparent Data Encryption protects files at rest. Backup encryption protects the copy you send off the server. Always Encrypted or column encryption is for specific sensitive values the database engine should not see in the clear. Most databases do not need all three. Using all three without a key backup is how a restore fails months later.

This sits inside database security. We will say which option matches the data you have instead of turning every feature on.

Decided before anything is turned on

What must be unreadable at rest
Whether backups leave the server
Which columns, if any, need Always Encrypted
Where certificates and keys are backed up
Who can restore, and onto which server

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Tell us what has to be unreadable

Data at rest, the backup files, or specific columns. The SQL Server version decides which of those you can do.

Contact AVRIN or call 562.445.5872