ScriptLogic wants to simplify the process of handling database permissions with a new security offering aimed at companies running Microsoft SQL Server.
With Security Explorer for SQL Server, database administrators can enhance Microsoft SQL Server security by managing permissions for Windows Authentication users and SQL logins, ensuring each user has the appropriate access to the database.
ScriptLogic was bought by Quest Software this year for $90 million, and has traditionally focused on the SMB (small to midsized business) market. Its competition in the application management space includes Symantec, which bought ScriptLogic rival Altiris earlier this year.
“Permissions management in SQL Server can be very complex, especially for an IT person who has a lot of responsibilities beyond SQL Server and is not a dedicated DBA,” said Bob Crosley, senior product manager. “Permissions for logins, databases and objects are buried in preference and properties dialogs. Permissions can be explicit and implied, so it can be difficult to see the true permissions on an object.”
To read more about Quests purchase of ScriptLogic, click here.
The complexity can make ensuring that a new administrator has the same access policies as another complicated, he said, adding that there is no easy way to return to a known-good set of permissions if they are unintentionally or maliciously changed.
“Security Explorer for SQL fixes all of these problems,” he said. “It has an intuitive, point-and-click interface that lets users select any login or object and see the sum of all permissions, explicit and implied. On any object, you can see all of the permissions available in one dialog, ending all of the digging necessary in Enterprise Manager. Changing permissions on an object is a few clicks.”
Users can copy and paste individual permissions between logins or objects, and can clone the entire permissions set between objects, ensuring consistent permissions among logins, he said. Permissions can be backed up independently of the database and restored, and users can scan for permissions to find what objects in the database have a certain permission set, he said.
The product supports SQL Server 2000 and 2005—including SQL Server 2005 Express Edition—and is priced on a per-server and per-workstation basis.
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