{"id":14701,"date":"2016-01-14T10:43:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T18:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/dataplatforminsider\/2016\/01\/14\/data-security-sql-server-2016-and-your-business\/"},"modified":"2024-01-22T22:52:21","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T06:52:21","slug":"data-security-sql-server-2016-and-your-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/sql-server\/blog\/2016\/01\/14\/data-security-sql-server-2016-and-your-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Data security, SQL Server 2016, and your business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Security is unquestionably a major priority for Microsoft. A recent news story<\/a> reported that the company \u201cis spending $1 billion a year to make Microsoft products more secure.\u201d The Microsoft data platform, including SQL Server and Azure SQL Database, is at the top of the list of products investing in security. But, be aware that a commitment to data security is actually nothing new. SQL Server has long been recognized for its outstanding security record: According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST)1<\/span> public security board, for the past six years, SQL Server has had the fewest security vulnerabilities when compared with the major database vendors. In addition, SQL Server has been deemed \u201cthe most secure database\u201d by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC). Despite this excellent security record, Microsoft is not content to rest on its laurels and is continuing to invest in security, providing customers with new and improved tools to secure data and applications.<\/p>\n

From an IT infrastructure and compliance perspective, the importance of protecting data is clear. Witness the fact that security has been identified as one of the \u201cEight emerging data center trends to follow in 2016<\/a>.\u201d But data protection also has profound business implications and can even be a competitive differentiator by helping drive customer loyalty and retention, create opportunities for premium offers and new sources of revenue, and protect future revenue streams, according to Forrester Research 2<\/span>.To help deal with the complexity and scope of data security \u2014 and diminish risks to your business \u2014 Microsoft provides an across-the-board, in-depth security approach that includes application security, network security, and database security.<\/p>\n

Data Security and SQL Server<\/strong><\/p>\n

Playing into this overall approach, SQL Server 2016 and Azure SQL Database include advanced, layered security functionality to help protect data itself as well as access to that data, and then provide monitoring capabilities. Data security features include (but are not limited to) the following:<\/p>\n