-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 11:54:55AM +0100, Sam Halliday wrote: > On 26 Apr 2009, at 07:05, to...@tuxteam.de wrote: >>> - a single psql server can autonomously start up and serve connection >>> requests (this cannot be done with encrypted disc) >> >> Sure it can -- it will be strongly architecture dependent though >> [...]
> I read the reference and I disagree that this is currently possible. I didn't try, but knowing how LUKS works I would be very surprised if that wasn't possible. > Even > this example is not an autonomous startup of the psql server. It requires > an inward network connection, for a start. I didn't understand that. > Consider the case where the PSQL > server is on a laptop and its primary function is to serve local requests, > therefore "dialling in" over ssh is not an option. If the sensitive data is in a laptop, the sysadmin should be hit three times over the head with the newest SQL standard if (s)he doesn't encrypt the drive in the first place. > If there were a way to prompt the user for the password to an encrypted > drive on startup for all OS, with an equivalent for headless machines... There definitely is. We even need more flexibility: prompt for credentials at the time of *mounting* a secured partition (this might be the time you put in a thumb drive, or the time where you take this particular secured database on-line). > then perhaps encrypted drives would be practical enough to be used by psql. > At the moment, the bootup sequence and requirements of psql mean its only > really an option for user-started servers. An alternative is necessary. There would be two steps: unlock database (starting the server), connect to it. If that's unpractical, remember: client-side decryption. The server _never_ sees the decrypted data (and more important: the decryption key). The only point of failure is the client (and the client is a point of failure in any case). Regards - -- tomás -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFJ9VeZBcgs9XrR2kYRAhSVAJ4jm6PxMZ7ZVDsWHt1UjBceNXjscACdHeOJ Q/DTDRTTCfc858dboD8Dmno= =ei8t -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
