SQL Server Architecture & Security Insights

Deep-dive technical articles authored by our Founder, former Microsoft Security PM Andreas Wolter.

A collection of the latest blog articles by our team members.

Apply These Concepts to Your Environment

Read the theory on our engineering blog, or let our experts audit your systems directly using our proprietary scripts. Test your own environment first with our free Get-SqlSafe security script.

View Security Assessments
SQL Server Consolidation: $3M+ in Projected Savings and 4 Challenges We Had to Solve

SQL Server Consolidation: $3M+ in Projected Savings and 4 Challenges We Had to Solve

Using a Database Server as a Honeypot for Threat Detection

Using a Database Server as a Honeypot for Threat Detection

Azure Arc for SQL Server: “Least Privilege” Mode Still Relies on sysadmin

Azure Arc for SQL Server: “Least Privilege” Mode Still Relies on sysadmin

When SIEM Enrichment Becomes False Attribution

When SIEM Enrichment Becomes False Attribution

Updated SQL Server Database Application Security & HA Checklist – Version 3 available

Updated SQL Server Database Application Security & HA Checklist – Version 3 available

Building a SQL Server Estate Summary from Get-SqlSafe Reports

Building a SQL Server Estate Summary from Get-SqlSafe Reports

Running Get-SqlSafe at Scale Across a SQL Server Estate

Running Get-SqlSafe at Scale Across a SQL Server Estate

When SQL Server Security Falls Between Documentation, Disclosure, and Vulnerability

When SQL Server Security Falls Between Documentation, Disclosure, and Vulnerability

Get-SqlSafe Community Edition: A Practical First Look at SQL Server Security

Get-SqlSafe Community Edition: A Practical First Look at SQL Server Security

When DROP USER Doesn’t Fully Drop Access: Stale EXTERNAL MODEL Permissions in SQL Server’s AI Integrations

When DROP USER Doesn’t Fully Drop Access: Stale EXTERNAL MODEL Permissions in SQL Server’s AI Integrations

##MS_DatabaseManager## Privilege Escalation (Part 2): The Ownership-Based Security Model

##MS_DatabaseManager## Privilege Escalation (Part 2): The Ownership-Based Security Model

SQL Server Privilege Escalation via DatabaseManager-role: Newly discovered Attack Paths Explained

SQL Server Privilege Escalation via DatabaseManager-role: Newly discovered Attack Paths Explained

New Permissions in SQL Server 2025

New Permissions in SQL Server 2025

SQL Server 2025 CU1 Improvement: Creating Databases within a Contained Availability Group – Current Limitations

SQL Server 2025 CU1 Improvement: Creating Databases within a Contained Availability Group – Current Limitations

To rename or not, that is the question – how to protect SQL Server’s built-in sysadmin account sa

To rename or not, that is the question – how to protect SQL Server’s built-in sysadmin account sa

Evading Data Access Auditing in Microsoft SQL Server – special commands – and how to close the gaps

Evading Data Access Auditing in Microsoft SQL Server – special commands – and how to close the gaps

Bug in Auditing allows for undetected Data Exfiltration by low privileged user

Bug in Auditing allows for undetected Data Exfiltration by low privileged user

How to Use Data Classification to Audit specific Data Access in Microsoft SQL Server

How to Use Data Classification to Audit specific Data Access in Microsoft SQL Server

Evading Data Access Auditing in Microsoft SQL Server – and how to close the gaps

Evading Data Access Auditing in Microsoft SQL Server – and how to close the gaps

Recommendation for Security Auditing for databases – with example for Microsoft SQL Server

Recommendation for Security Auditing for databases – with example for Microsoft SQL Server

Cumulative Update 19 for SQL Server 2022 includes important fixes

Cumulative Update 19 for SQL Server 2022 includes important fixes

10 hours of SQL Server under attack – takeaways

10 hours of SQL Server under attack – takeaways

Why you should use SQL Server contained availability groups to save time – and why consultants may not tell you about them

Why you should use SQL Server contained availability groups to save time – and why consultants may not tell you about them

PreCon Practical Performance Monitoring SQL Server at SQLSaturday New York City 2025 May 9th

PreCon Practical Performance Monitoring SQL Server at SQLSaturday New York City 2025 May 9th

All blog articles by Andreas Wolter can be found here.