SQL Security and Audit Reporting Updates

Important security features to protect sensitive data are expected in SQL Server 2016, which should be in preview in mid-2015 and generally available in Apr. 2016. The features are also arriving in Azure SQL Database during 2015.

Data Encrypted in Motion

An important advancement in encryption capabilities for SQL databases, called Always Encrypted, provides protection of data at rest and in motion with encryption keys that are maintained in the customer’s trusted environment.

Existing SQL Server encryption, called transparent data encryption (TDE), protects data at rest but relies on the database engine to unencrypt the data when queried, which results in data being transmitted in plain text to the requesting application. With Always Encrypted, encryption and decryption of sensitive data happens transparently inside the client application, not at the database, ensuring sensitive data is encrypted at rest in the database and in motion when transmitted between the application and the database.