Security of Database Systems: Authorization Features and Mechanisms

Database security has become an essential issue in assuring the integrity, protection, and reliability of the data stored in a database management system (DBMS). The authorization mechanism is the component of the database security system which has the primary responsibility of safeguarding the previously defined data and access rules needed for database access control. The data and rules for authorization control assist in the enforcement of access controls regarding the list of authorized users, the data objects which the authorized users are allowed to manipulate, and the operations that these users can perform on these objects. As part of its tasks the authorization mechanism can grant or deny access to any user or group of users as appropriate.