Andreas Wolter, SQL Server consultant and trainer, provides expert guidance on server security, high availability, and auditing, helping organizations protect and optimize their database environments.
76 articles from this blog
Analysis of SQL Server security issues, vulnerability disclosure challenges, and Microsoft's documentation gaps.
A practical first look at Get-SqlSafe Community Edition, a free PowerShell tool for SQL Server security baseline assessment.
Explores a security bug in SQL Server 2025 where EXTERNAL MODEL permissions persist after dropping a user, risking unintended access.
Analysis of ##MS_DatabaseManager## privilege escalation in SQL Server, focusing on ownership-based security model flaws.
Explains newly discovered SQL Server privilege escalation paths from DatabaseManager role to sysadmin, including attack details and mitigation.
Overview of new permissions in SQL Server 2025, including AI model execution and changes to existing permissions.
Announcement of a full-day SQL Server Security pre-conference workshop at PASS Summit East in Chicago, focusing on practical defenses.
SQL Server 2025 CU1 allows creating/restoring databases in contained availability groups, but with notable limitations and a specific required process.
Author's session on SQL Server Contained Availability Groups selected for SQLBits 2026 conference, covering best practices and gotchas.
A comprehensive checklist for securing and ensuring high availability of SQL Server database applications, covering deployment, operations, and resilience.
A technical checklist for database application vendors to ensure SQL Server security, high availability, and best practices in deployment and operations.
Analyzes the pros and cons of renaming the built-in SQL Server 'sa' account as a security measure against brute-force attacks.
Explores advanced techniques attackers use to bypass SQL Server data access auditing and provides mitigation strategies to close security gaps.
A security researcher details a SQL Server auditing bug that allows low-privilege users to exfiltrate sensitive data without detection.
A guide to using SQL Server's Data Classification feature to audit access to sensitive data, focusing on the new SENSITIVE_BATCH_COMPLETED_GROUP action.
Explores methods to bypass data access auditing in Microsoft SQL Server and provides guidance on how to close these security gaps.
A guide to implementing essential security auditing for databases, using Microsoft SQL Server as a practical example to demonstrate configuration and importance.
SQL Server 2022 Cumulative Update 19 includes a critical security fix for auditing missing permission changes, urging immediate installation.
A security experiment exposing a SQL Server to the internet, revealing attack patterns and providing security recommendations.
Explains the benefits of SQL Server contained availability groups for simplifying failover and reducing DBA workload, contrasting them with traditional AGs.
