DBAs Beware: “Hacker destroys VFEmail service, wipes backups”

My headline is borrowed from a headline on Malwarebytes blog post. In fact, many headlines like it are across the internet right now. This post is going to sound fairly similar to an earlier post I published, “Ex-Admin Deletes All Customer Data and Wipes Servers“. It’s from June of 2017, about a hosting provider who … Read more

“Ex-Admin Deletes All Customer Data and Wipes Servers”

My headline is borrowed from a headline on bleepingcomputer.com. This just happened to a Dutch hosting provider in 2017. You can read the article. Actually, you must read the article. If you didn’t here’s the basic gist: An administrator quits or was fired or whatever. He or she didn’t get their access terminated right away. He … Read more

DevOps: Don’t Forget The Ops

DevOps - Don't forget the ops

I want to commend the team at GitLab.com – they had an issue that took down a key database and everything else with it effectively and when they came back, there was data not coming back. This happens. This happens in “Traditional” 1.0 IT companies (ask my usual airline, Delta, they’ll tell you two stories … Read more

DBA Questions To Ask Software Vendors

Questions for a DBA To Ask a Software Vendor

Do you buy software from independent software vendors? Does it run on SQL Server? Are you responsible for supporting that software? Here are some questions that you can ask a software vendor about the way they use SQL Server. It’s best to ask these questions before you are a customer, too; you’ll have a bit … Read more