Re: HIPPA (was Re: Anyone know ...) - Mailing list pgsql-general

From Kenneth Downs
Subject Re: HIPPA (was Re: Anyone know ...)
Date
Msg-id 45F197CB.6040901@secdat.com
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In response to Re: HIPPA (was Re: Anyone know ...)  (Karsten Hilbert <Karsten.Hilbert@gmx.net>)
Responses Re: HIPPA (was Re: Anyone know ...)  (Karsten Hilbert <Karsten.Hilbert@gmx.net>)
List pgsql-general
Karsten Hilbert wrote:
If the user figures out our URL scheme, they might try something like 
"?gp_page=patients" and say "Wow I'm clever I'm going to look at the 
patients table", except that the public user has no privilege on the 
table.  The db server will throw a permission denied error.   
My interest was more towards the "we get an email" part.
What level do you send that from ? A trigger ?

 

The web framework does that.  The web framework decodes the HTTP request and executes any SQL it thinks the user wants.  If there is a permissions error then it sends an email to the administrator.

The underlying idea is that the GET/POST parameters are pretty standard and easy to decode and convert into SQL commands.  For instance, by default we assume a page = a table, and lacking any code that overrides that assumption, a request for a page becomes a search request in the table of the same name.  This is the first thing a cracker would depend upon if he were trying to pry.

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