Access Control (Authorization)

So far, we've had full rights and control over our database resources because we created them as operating system (OS) account administrators. We could make any changes we wanted. Therefore, for modern databases, security focuses on who can do what to specific database resources in a granular way.

First, the database needs to identify or authenticate every user who wishes to access the database resources. A user will typically see a prompt to supply a login string (username) and a password string, to enter the system. MySQL has tools that define users with those login and password strings. Next, the database needs to authorize, or allow, each user one or more specific actions on one or more database components.

For a modern database, a user must supply a login string and a password string to gain entry to the system. Then, we can use those tools to give users permission to view, create, delete, and/or update all the database resources within...