Programming 101 teaches all students that security is the crucial part of any system. You must secure your data! It appears that some people working for the state of Oklahoma forgot this important lesson when tens of thousands of Oklahoma residents had their sensitive dataincluding numbersposted on the Internet for the general public to access. You have probably heard this type of report before, but have you heard that the error went unnoticed for 3 years? A programmer reported the problem, explaining how he could easily change the page his browser was pointing to and grab the entire database for the state of Oklahoma. Also, because of the programming, malicious users could easily tamper with the database by changing data or adding fictitious data. If you are still thinking that isn't such a big deal, it gets worse. The website also posted the Sexual and Violent Offender Registry. Yes, the Department of Corrections employee data were also available for the general public to review.

In a group, discuss the following:

Why is it important to secure data?

What can happen if someone accesses your customer database?

What could happen if someone changes the data in your customer database and adds fictitious data?

Who should be held responsible for the state of Oklahoma data breach?

What are the business risks associated with database security?