Re: Oracle 9i and connect as sys

From: Tim Gorman <tim_at_sagelogix.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 05:29:23 -0800
Message-ID: <F001.005CB567.20030818052923@fatcity.com>

CREATE PUBLIC SYNONYM is a permission I'll give away freely, even to a PHB. It's DROP PUBLIC SYNONYM that really needs some thought...

Installing Oracle in a shop that has never used UNIX or Oracle before is never cheap, whether I do it or not. This particular shop was OpenVMS/Ingres coming into Solaris/Oracle, so the real expense will come after their current staff is fully retrained and discovers Monster.com...

on 8/17/03 9:19 PM, Mladen Gogala at mgogala_at_adelphia.net wrote:

> 
> On 2003.08.17 23:39, Tim Gorman wrote:

>> Babette,

> 

>>
>> Just this Friday, I was wrapping up an installation engagement and one of
>> the last things we did was change all the passwords. Standard practice.
>> Immediately, one of the development managers comes boiling out of his office
>> screaming "Who changed the passwords to SYS and SYSTEM?". I 'fessed up and
>> asked him why he thought he needed it. He turned red and snarled that he
>> just needed it and never you mind, turned on his heel and went in the CIO's
>> office, then came boiling back with approval. We turned it over, and within
>> 5 minutes I logged back onto the system and saw SQL*Plus running with the
>> SYS/SYSTEM password visible to anyone and everyone who can run the UNIX "ps"
>> command. I looked at the scripts he was running, noticed that all he wanted
>> SYS/SYSTEM for was to create PUBLIC SYNONYMs. I left to catch my plane...

> 
> I have a myriad of similar war stories. The best reaction is to collect them
> and share with this email list. The company name should, of course, be kept
> confidential, but we all know the PHB type of manager. Of course, having a
> manager create public synonyms on your database is, in itslef, a recipy for
> disaster. Next time something goes wrong, they'll have to buy you a 1st class
> ticket to your plane. I don't imagine that having Tim Gorman himself install
> your database comes in cheap....
> 

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Author: Tim Gorman
  INET: tim_at_sagelogix.com

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Received on Mon Aug 18 2003 - 08:29:23 CDT