While not open source, if you need a simple tool to patch third-party applications on a Windows machine you may want to check out www.patchmypc.com.  They've done a good job of automatic a process that should have been automated a long time ago.  What is needed now is to have a similar application delivered as a system service that runs on all computers in a domain.  Microsoft Systems Center Configuration Manager is close but who has time to constantly create new deployment packages?  The folks at patchmypc have the right idea.  They maintain the package database - you just choose which applications you want to patch.

I am in the process of reviewing a copy of "Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Security Cookbook" from PackT publishing.  I will be sure to post my review when completed but in the meantime if anyone is interested in an eBook version the publisher is offering 5 to anyone who posts a response to this blog entry with a reason "why you would like to get the book".  Hey - free stuff - why not?  Only the "Top 5" comments will win and those will be the only ones given to the publisher for prize distribution.  I will leave this open for comments until 11/15/12. UPDATE: I've closed the contest and sent the top 5 reasons to the publishers.  The winners should receive their free copies at any time.

Microsoft is making moves towards an in-memory database.  While the security implications of this may be unknown - it's not too early to starting thinking about it.  http://blogs.technet.com/b/dataplatforminsider/archive/2012/04/09/the-coming-in-memory-database-tipping-point.aspx

I've already created a SQL Server 2012 section to the version database for the release candidates but this is still an important milestone since now SQL Server 2012 will begin to show in production environments.  We'll keep our ears to the ground for any new vulnerabilities!   http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/default.aspx

While Ken and I do our best to keep up with the SQL Server builds, occasionally we fall behind.  If you want a listing of the major releases (I don't see hotfixes here but certainly service packs and cumulative updates) see this site to double-check our index:  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlreleaseservices/

You ever have one of those days when you want to take your printer outside and beat it to bits with a bat (a la Micheal Bolton, Samir, and Peter from the movie Office Space)?  Well - for me - that day is TODAY!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN3v0drnTdQ   BTW - if you are a company that outsources your Helpdesk to overseas call centers - you deserve to go out of business.  There's nothing worse than sitting in a queue for an hour only to be greeted by someone who sounds like they are calling you on a tin can phone.  All emails should be answered withing 1 hour and all phone calls should be answered within 5 minutes.  Anything else is unacceptable.  

Checking my calender - yep - almost 2012 and we still have 32% of sites with SQL injection vulnerabilities? Wow. Anyway - good reading and should give any security consultants out there hope for future business opportunities.

If you've ever wanted to play around with a SQL injection testing tool written in Python, you are in luck.  Sourceforge has a project called "The Mole" which can be used to test for SQL injection vulnerabilities on multiple platforms.  Give it a look! http://www.darknet.org.uk/2011/12/the-mole-automatic-sql-injection-sqli-exploitation-tool/

If you have an interest in using a "SQL Server in the cloud" as a way to absolve yourself from worrying about SQL Server security - please remember to check the security documentation here first.  As always - your security mileage may vary and you will still be dealing with security challenges.  However, for the record, I am firm believer in cloud solutions in most instances.  There are very few people who can do security better than most vetted cloud providers.  Let them do the grunt work while you focus on business - and securing your application!

The site has been streamlined and is now hosted on Google Sites.  Hopefully this should increase performance and uptime.  Please let me know if you experience any issues with the migration.