Discussion board

Question

Find an article in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal published in the past year describing an organization that has experienced problems with its information systems. Describe the problems and then provide an analysis of the extent to which the concepts of physical database design might or might not be helpful in addressing the problems. Finally, post a link to the article in your discussion post.

Answer 1

A good example is a Wall Street Journal article from October 2020 discussing ransomware attacks against hospitals and other organizations. The article describes how a ransomware attack shut down computer systems at a hospital, forcing it to divert ambulances from its emergency room for 13 days while its IT systems recovered. The article also discusses the broader increase in sophisticated ransomware attacks against organizations.

The information-system problem in this example is primarily a cybersecurity and system-availability problem. When ransomware prevents employees from accessing critical systems and data, normal operations may become extremely difficult or impossible. In a hospital, this is particularly serious because information systems support patient records, scheduling, communications and other activities associated with patient care.

Physical database design could help address some aspects of this problem, although it would not completely prevent ransomware. Physical database design concerns how data is actually stored, accessed, organized, protected and recovered. Appropriate database design could include maintaining reliable backups, separating critical data and systems, implementing redundancy, controlling user access, and designing effective recovery procedures. These measures could make an organization more resilient if its primary systems become unavailable.

For example, maintaining secure and isolated backups of important databases could allow an organization to restore information after an attack rather than relying entirely on compromised systems. Appropriate access controls and separation of systems could also potentially limit the amount of information an attacker can reach after gaining access.

However, physical database design alone cannot solve the entire problem. Ransomware is fundamentally a cybersecurity issue that also requires measures such as software updates, network security, employee cybersecurity training, authentication controls, monitoring, incident-response planning and security audits. The Wall Street Journal article similarly notes the importance of software updates, third-party security audits, employee training and preparing for system outages.

Therefore, good physical database design should be viewed as one component of a broader information-security strategy. It can improve data protection, availability and recovery, but organizations must combine database practices with network and cybersecurity controls to adequately address ransomware threats.

Article: Wall Street Journal — October 1, 2020 edition