In late January, a worm called SQL Slammer shut down a Bank of America ATM network, Continental Airlines" online ticketing system, and an emergency call center in Seattle as well as cutting off Internet access for millions of PC users worldwide. Slammer also revealed a hidden problem in the SQL Server community: Many customers aren"t promptly applying service packs and hotfixes.
Slammer was a devastating worm. But it wasn"t the first and won"t be the last virus to hit the Internet. Attackers will continue to find holes in software, and vendors will have to patch those holes as they"re discovered. Still, patches are useless unless customers install them. The same goes for service packs. SQL Server Magazine heard from hundreds of readers who consciously decided not to apply the patch for the buffer-overflow/escalation-of-privilege vulnerability that Slammer took advantage of.
In this interview with Microsoft Vice President of SQL Server Gordon Mangione, SQL Server MVP Brian Moran explores why customers aren"t applying patches, Microsoft"s plans to address these problems, and the future of security for SQL Server.