Encrypted Database

  • I have inherited a database that appears to have encrypted columns. All the interesting columns (user name, account number, etc) are varbinary. This is for an asp web app on the public internet.

    I have run these 2 queries:

    SELECT * FROM sys.symmetric_keys

    SELECT * FROM sys.certificates

    both returned 0 rows. I do have SA on the box. Is there a possibility that I can get at the data? What are my options?

    Thanks,

    Chris

  • Unless you find out how (if?) the data has been encrypted and either import the appropriate encryption objects into the database or decrypt the values using a client application, the data is pretty much lost.

    Well, in fact the safety of your data has - sadly - reached the ultimate level of encryption - destruction.

    How was the database delivered to you? Are there any backups? Do you have access to the original data files?

    ML

    ---
    Matija Lah, SQL Server MVP
    http://milambda.blogspot.com

Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 1 (of 1 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply