Using the structure of B⁺‐trees for enhancing logging mechanisms of databases

Abstract

Purpose

Today's database management systems implement sophisticated access control mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access and modifications. For instance, this is an important basic requirement for SOX (Sarbanes‐Oxley Act) compliance, whereby every past transaction has to be traceable at any time. However, malicious database administrators may still be able to bypass the security mechanisms in order to make hidden modifications to the database. This paper aims to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper the authors define a novel signature of a B⁺‐tree, a widely‐used storage structure in database management systems, and propose its utilization for supporting the logging in databases. This additional logging mechanism is especially useful in conjunction with forensic techniques that directly target the underlying tree‐structure of an index. Several techniques for applying this signature in the context of digital forensics on B⁺‐trees are proposed in the course of this paper. Furthermore, the authors' signature can be used to generate exact copies of an index for backup purposes, thereby enabling the owner to completely restore data, even on the structural level.

Findings

For database systems in enterprise environments, compliance to regulatory standards such as SOX (Sarbanes‐Oxley Act), whereby every past transaction has to be traceable at any time, is a fundamental requirement. Today's database management systems usually implement sophisticated access control mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access and modifications. Nonetheless malicious database administrators would be able to bypass the security mechanisms in order to make modifications to the database, while covering their tracks.

Originality/value

In this paper, the authors demonstrate how the tree structure of the underlying store engine can be used to enhance forensic logging mechanisms of the database. They define a novel signature for B⁺‐trees, which are used by the InnoDB storage engine. This signature stores the structure of database storage files and can help in reconstructing previous versions of the file for forensic purposes. Furthermore, the authors' signature can be used to generate exact copies of an index for backup purposes, thus enabling the owner to completely restore data, even on the structural level. The authors applied their concept to four real‐life scenarios in order to evaluate its effectiveness.

Citation

Kieseberg, P., Schrittwieser, S., Morgan, L., Mulazzani, M., Huber, M. and Weippl, E. (2013), "Using the structure of B⁺‐trees for enhancing logging mechanisms of databases", International Journal of Web Information Systems, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 53-68. https://doi.org/10.1108/17440081311316389