Firebird File and Metadata Security

Geoff Worboys

7 December 2005 – Document version 0.5

Table of Contents

Introduction
Background
The Problem
The Solution
Embedded Firebird Server
Other Forms of Obscurity
Acceptable Low Security
Choosing Obscurity
The Philosophical Argument
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
A. Document History
B. Use of This Document

Introduction

If you stumble on this page and don't know about Firebird, see this link: www.firebirdsql.org

This article discusses the security of Firebird database files and in particular access to the metadata stored in those files. It has been written in response to frequent questions on the Firebird lists concerning these issues. The article avoids technical specifics. To discover how to secure files in your particular operating system refer to relevant documentation for that operating system, to discover how to apply user and object security in Firebird databases refer to documentation available from the Firebird website (noted above) or buy The Firebird Book by Helen Borrie.