Companies could improve
data protection by linking data with details of those
authorised to make changes to the data, says a database systems
specialist.
Computer scientist and BCS fellow Charlie Bachman recommends
associating a record of which a user or users can modify or delete
data with that data.
This would help tackle the problem of illegal or inappropriate
changes by limiting not only who can access the data but who is
allowed to modify it.
"Some edits might be [also] classified as to require dual
authorship to authorise changes," he said
However, it is system integration that Bachman, who has been
working with data systems since the 1950s, sees as the enduring
problem.
Merging new application systems with existing ones will remain
the biggest management problem as long as there are databases, he
said.
This challenge is to be the focus of Bachman's presentation to
the British
Computer Society's database management interest group on 21
October.