title | description | keywords | services | ms.service | ms.subservice | ms.custom | ms.devlang | ms.topic | author | ms.author | ms.reviewer | manager | ms.date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Always Encrypted: SQL Database - Azure Key Vault | Microsoft Docs |
This article shows you how to secure sensitive data in a SQL database with data encryption using the Always Encrypted Wizard in SQL Server Management Studio. |
data encryption, encryption key, cloud encryption |
sql-database |
sql-database |
security |
conceptual |
VanMSFT |
vanto |
craigg |
10/05/2018 |
This article shows you how to secure sensitive data in a SQL database with data encryption using the Always Encrypted Wizard in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). It also includes instructions that will show you how to store each encryption key in Azure Key Vault.
Always Encrypted is a new data encryption technology in Azure SQL Database and SQL Server that helps protect sensitive data at rest on the server, during movement between client and server, and while the data is in use. Always Encrypted ensures that sensitive data never appears as plaintext inside the database system. After you configure data encryption, only client applications or app servers that have access to the keys can access plaintext data. For detailed information, see Always Encrypted (Database Engine).
After you configure the database to use Always Encrypted, you will create a client application in C# with Visual Studio to work with the encrypted data.
Follow the steps in this article and learn how to set up Always Encrypted for an Azure SQL database. In this article you will learn how to perform the following tasks:
- Use the Always Encrypted wizard in SSMS to create Always Encrypted keys.
- Create a column master key (CMK).
- Create a column encryption key (CEK).
- Create a database table and encrypt columns.
- Create an application that inserts, selects, and displays data from the encrypted columns.
For this tutorial, you'll need:
- An Azure account and subscription. If you don't have one, sign up for a free trial.
- SQL Server Management Studio version 13.0.700.242 or later.
- .NET Framework 4.6 or later (on the client computer).
- Visual Studio.
- Azure PowerShell, version 1.0 or later. Type (Get-Module azure -ListAvailable).Version to see what version of PowerShell you are running.
You must enable your client application to access the SQL Database service by setting up an Azure Active Directory (AAD) application and copying the Application ID and key that you will need to authenticate your application.
To get the Application ID and key, follow the steps in create an Azure Active Directory application and service principal that can access resources.
Now that your client app is configured and you have your application ID, it's time to create a key vault and configure its access policy so you and your application can access the vault's secrets (the Always Encrypted keys). The create, get, list, sign, verify, wrapKey, and unwrapKey permissions are required for creating a new column master key and for setting up encryption with SQL Server Management Studio.
You can quickly create a key vault by running the following script. For a detailed explanation of these cmdlets and more information about creating and configuring a key vault, see Get started with Azure Key Vault.
$subscriptionName = '<your Azure subscription name>'
$userPrincipalName = '<[email protected]>'
$applicationId = '<application ID from your AAD application>'
$resourceGroupName = '<resource group name>'
$location = '<datacenter location>'
$vaultName = 'AeKeyVault'
Connect-AzureRmAccount
$subscriptionId = (Get-AzureRmSubscription -SubscriptionName $subscriptionName).Id
Set-AzureRmContext -SubscriptionId $subscriptionId
New-AzureRmResourceGroup -Name $resourceGroupName -Location $location
New-AzureRmKeyVault -VaultName $vaultName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -Location $location
Set-AzureRmKeyVaultAccessPolicy -VaultName $vaultName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -PermissionsToKeys create,get,wrapKey,unwrapKey,sign,verify,list -UserPrincipalName $userPrincipalName
Set-AzureRmKeyVaultAccessPolicy -VaultName $vaultName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -ServicePrincipalName $applicationId -PermissionsToKeys get,wrapKey,unwrapKey,sign,verify,list
-
Sign in to the Azure portal.
-
Go to Create a resource > Databases > SQL Database.
-
Create a Blank database named Clinic on a new or existing server. For detailed directions about how to create a database in the Azure portal, see Your first Azure SQL database.
You will need the connection string later in the tutorial, so after you create the database, browse to the new Clinic database and copy the connection string. You can get the connection string at any time, but it's easy to copy it in the Azure portal.
-
Go to SQL databases > Clinic > Show database connection strings.
-
Copy the connection string for ADO.NET.
Open SSMS and connect to the server with the Clinic database.
-
Open SSMS. (Go to Connect > Database Engine to open the Connect to Server window if it isn't open.)
-
Enter your server name and credentials. The server name can be found on the SQL database blade and in the connection string you copied earlier. Type the complete server name, including database.windows.net.
If the New Firewall Rule window opens, sign in to Azure and let SSMS create a new firewall rule for you.
In this section, you will create a table to hold patient data. It's not initially encrypted--you will configure encryption in the next section.
- Expand Databases.
- Right-click the Clinic database and click New Query.
- Paste the following Transact-SQL (T-SQL) into the new query window and Execute it.
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Patients](
[PatientId] [int] IDENTITY(1,1),
[SSN] [char](11) NOT NULL,
[FirstName] [nvarchar](50) NULL,
[LastName] [nvarchar](50) NULL,
[MiddleName] [nvarchar](50) NULL,
[StreetAddress] [nvarchar](50) NULL,
[City] [nvarchar](50) NULL,
[ZipCode] [char](5) NULL,
[State] [char](2) NULL,
[BirthDate] [date] NOT NULL
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([PatientId] ASC) ON [PRIMARY] );
GO
SSMS provides a wizard that helps you easily configure Always Encrypted by setting up the column master key, column encryption key, and encrypted columns for you.
-
Expand Databases > Clinic > Tables.
-
Right-click the Patients table and select Encrypt Columns to open the Always Encrypted wizard:
The Always Encrypted wizard includes the following sections: Column Selection, Master Key Configuration, Validation, and Summary.
Click Next on the Introduction page to open the Column Selection page. On this page, you will select which columns you want to encrypt, the type of encryption, and what column encryption key (CEK) to use.
Encrypt SSN and BirthDate information for each patient. The SSN column will use deterministic encryption, which supports equality lookups, joins, and group by. The BirthDate column will use randomized encryption, which does not support operations.
Set the Encryption Type for the SSN column to Deterministic and the BirthDate column to Randomized. Click Next.
The Master Key Configuration page is where you set up your CMK and select the key store provider where the CMK will be stored. Currently, you can store a CMK in the Windows certificate store, Azure Key Vault, or a hardware security module (HSM).
This tutorial shows how to store your keys in Azure Key Vault.
- Select Azure Key Vault.
- Select the desired key vault from the drop-down list.
- Click Next.
You can encrypt the columns now or save a PowerShell script to run later. For this tutorial, select Proceed to finish now and click Next.
Verify that the settings are all correct and click Finish to complete the setup for Always Encrypted.
After the wizard is finished, your database is set up for Always Encrypted. The wizard performed the following actions:
- Created a column master key and stored it in Azure Key Vault.
- Created a column encryption key and stored it in Azure Key Vault.
- Configured the selected columns for encryption. The Patients table currently has no data, but any existing data in the selected columns is now encrypted.
You can verify the creation of the keys in SSMS by expanding Clinic > Security > Always Encrypted Keys.
Now that Always Encrypted is set up, you can build an application that performs inserts and selects on the encrypted columns.
Important
Your application must use SqlParameter objects when passing plaintext data to the server with Always Encrypted columns. Passing literal values without using SqlParameter objects will result in an exception.
- Open Visual Studio and create a new C# Console Application (Visual Studio 2015 and earlier) or Console App (.NET Framework) (Visual Studio 2017 and later). Make sure your project is set to .NET Framework 4.6 or later.
- Name the project AlwaysEncryptedConsoleAKVApp and click OK.
- Install the following NuGet packages by going to Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Console.
Run these two lines of code in the Package Manager Console.
Install-Package Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.AlwaysEncrypted.AzureKeyVaultProvider
Install-Package Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory
This section explains how to enable Always Encrypted in your database connection string.
To enable Always Encrypted, you need to add the Column Encryption Setting keyword to your connection string and set it to Enabled.
You can set this directly in the connection string, or you can set it by using SqlConnectionStringBuilder. The sample application in the next section shows how to use SqlConnectionStringBuilder.
Add the following keyword to your connection string.
Column Encryption Setting=Enabled
The following code shows how to enable Always Encrypted by setting SqlConnectionStringBuilder.ColumnEncryptionSetting to Enabled.
// Instantiate a SqlConnectionStringBuilder.
SqlConnectionStringBuilder connStringBuilder =
new SqlConnectionStringBuilder("replace with your connection string");
// Enable Always Encrypted.
connStringBuilder.ColumnEncryptionSetting =
SqlConnectionColumnEncryptionSetting.Enabled;
The following code shows how to register the Azure Key Vault provider with the ADO.NET driver.
private static ClientCredential _clientCredential;
static void InitializeAzureKeyVaultProvider()
{
_clientCredential = new ClientCredential(applicationId, clientKey);
SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider azureKeyVaultProvider =
new SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider(GetToken);
Dictionary<string, SqlColumnEncryptionKeyStoreProvider> providers =
new Dictionary<string, SqlColumnEncryptionKeyStoreProvider>();
providers.Add(SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider.ProviderName, azureKeyVaultProvider);
SqlConnection.RegisterColumnEncryptionKeyStoreProviders(providers);
}
This sample demonstrates how to:
- Modify your connection string to enable Always Encrypted.
- Register Azure Key Vault as the application's key store provider.
- Insert data into the encrypted columns.
- Select a record by filtering for a specific value in an encrypted column.
Replace the contents of Program.cs with the following code. Replace the connection string for the global connectionString variable in the line that directly precedes the Main method with your valid connection string from the Azure portal. This is the only change you need to make to this code.
Run the app to see Always Encrypted in action.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.AlwaysEncrypted.AzureKeyVaultProvider;
namespace AlwaysEncryptedConsoleAKVApp
{
class Program
{
// Update this line with your Clinic database connection string from the Azure portal.
static string connectionString = @"<connection string from the portal>";
static string applicationId = @"<application ID from your AAD application>";
static string clientKey = "<key from your AAD application>";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
InitializeAzureKeyVaultProvider();
Console.WriteLine("Signed in as: " + _clientCredential.ClientId);
Console.WriteLine("Original connection string copied from the Azure portal:");
Console.WriteLine(connectionString);
// Create a SqlConnectionStringBuilder.
SqlConnectionStringBuilder connStringBuilder =
new SqlConnectionStringBuilder(connectionString);
// Enable Always Encrypted for the connection.
// This is the only change specific to Always Encrypted
connStringBuilder.ColumnEncryptionSetting =
SqlConnectionColumnEncryptionSetting.Enabled;
Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "Updated connection string with Always Encrypted enabled:");
Console.WriteLine(connStringBuilder.ConnectionString);
// Update the connection string with a password supplied at runtime.
Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "Enter server password:");
connStringBuilder.Password = Console.ReadLine();
// Assign the updated connection string to our global variable.
connectionString = connStringBuilder.ConnectionString;
// Delete all records to restart this demo app.
ResetPatientsTable();
// Add sample data to the Patients table.
Console.Write(Environment.NewLine + "Adding sample patient data to the database...");
InsertPatient(new Patient()
{
SSN = "999-99-0001",
FirstName = "Orlando",
LastName = "Gee",
BirthDate = DateTime.Parse("01/04/1964")
});
InsertPatient(new Patient()
{
SSN = "999-99-0002",
FirstName = "Keith",
LastName = "Harris",
BirthDate = DateTime.Parse("06/20/1977")
});
InsertPatient(new Patient()
{
SSN = "999-99-0003",
FirstName = "Donna",
LastName = "Carreras",
BirthDate = DateTime.Parse("02/09/1973")
});
InsertPatient(new Patient()
{
SSN = "999-99-0004",
FirstName = "Janet",
LastName = "Gates",
BirthDate = DateTime.Parse("08/31/1985")
});
InsertPatient(new Patient()
{
SSN = "999-99-0005",
FirstName = "Lucy",
LastName = "Harrington",
BirthDate = DateTime.Parse("05/06/1993")
});
// Fetch and display all patients.
Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "All the records currently in the Patients table:");
foreach (Patient patient in SelectAllPatients())
{
Console.WriteLine(patient.FirstName + " " + patient.LastName + "\tSSN: " + patient.SSN + "\tBirthdate: " + patient.BirthDate);
}
// Get patients by SSN.
Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "Now lets locate records by searching the encrypted SSN column.");
string ssn;
// This very simple validation only checks that the user entered 11 characters.
// In production be sure to check all user input and use the best validation for your specific application.
do
{
Console.WriteLine("Please enter a valid SSN (ex. 999-99-0003):");
ssn = Console.ReadLine();
} while (ssn.Length != 11);
// The example allows duplicate SSN entries so we will return all records
// that match the provided value and store the results in selectedPatients.
Patient selectedPatient = SelectPatientBySSN(ssn);
// Check if any records were returned and display our query results.
if (selectedPatient != null)
{
Console.WriteLine("Patient found with SSN = " + ssn);
Console.WriteLine(selectedPatient.FirstName + " " + selectedPatient.LastName + "\tSSN: "
+ selectedPatient.SSN + "\tBirthdate: " + selectedPatient.BirthDate);
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("No patients found with SSN = " + ssn);
}
Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit...");
Console.ReadLine();
}
private static ClientCredential _clientCredential;
static void InitializeAzureKeyVaultProvider()
{
_clientCredential = new ClientCredential(applicationId, clientKey);
SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider azureKeyVaultProvider =
new SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider(GetToken);
Dictionary<string, SqlColumnEncryptionKeyStoreProvider> providers =
new Dictionary<string, SqlColumnEncryptionKeyStoreProvider>();
providers.Add(SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider.ProviderName, azureKeyVaultProvider);
SqlConnection.RegisterColumnEncryptionKeyStoreProviders(providers);
}
public async static Task<string> GetToken(string authority, string resource, string scope)
{
var authContext = new AuthenticationContext(authority);
AuthenticationResult result = await authContext.AcquireTokenAsync(resource, _clientCredential);
if (result == null)
throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to obtain the access token");
return result.AccessToken;
}
static int InsertPatient(Patient newPatient)
{
int returnValue = 0;
string sqlCmdText = @"INSERT INTO [dbo].[Patients] ([SSN], [FirstName], [LastName], [BirthDate])
VALUES (@SSN, @FirstName, @LastName, @BirthDate);";
SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(sqlCmdText);
SqlParameter paramSSN = new SqlParameter(@"@SSN", newPatient.SSN);
paramSSN.DbType = DbType.AnsiStringFixedLength;
paramSSN.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
paramSSN.Size = 11;
SqlParameter paramFirstName = new SqlParameter(@"@FirstName", newPatient.FirstName);
paramFirstName.DbType = DbType.String;
paramFirstName.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
SqlParameter paramLastName = new SqlParameter(@"@LastName", newPatient.LastName);
paramLastName.DbType = DbType.String;
paramLastName.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
SqlParameter paramBirthDate = new SqlParameter(@"@BirthDate", newPatient.BirthDate);
paramBirthDate.SqlDbType = SqlDbType.Date;
paramBirthDate.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
sqlCmd.Parameters.Add(paramSSN);
sqlCmd.Parameters.Add(paramFirstName);
sqlCmd.Parameters.Add(paramLastName);
sqlCmd.Parameters.Add(paramBirthDate);
using (sqlCmd.Connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
try
{
sqlCmd.Connection.Open();
sqlCmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
returnValue = 1;
Console.WriteLine("The following error was encountered: ");
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "Press Enter key to exit");
Console.ReadLine();
Environment.Exit(0);
}
}
return returnValue;
}
static List<Patient> SelectAllPatients()
{
List<Patient> patients = new List<Patient>();
SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(
"SELECT [SSN], [FirstName], [LastName], [BirthDate] FROM [dbo].[Patients]",
new SqlConnection(connectionString));
using (sqlCmd.Connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
using (sqlCmd.Connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
try
{
sqlCmd.Connection.Open();
SqlDataReader reader = sqlCmd.ExecuteReader();
if (reader.HasRows)
{
while (reader.Read())
{
patients.Add(new Patient()
{
SSN = reader[0].ToString(),
FirstName = reader[1].ToString(),
LastName = reader["LastName"].ToString(),
BirthDate = (DateTime)reader["BirthDate"]
});
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw;
}
}
return patients;
}
static Patient SelectPatientBySSN(string ssn)
{
Patient patient = new Patient();
SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(
"SELECT [SSN], [FirstName], [LastName], [BirthDate] FROM [dbo].[Patients] WHERE [SSN]=@SSN",
new SqlConnection(connectionString));
SqlParameter paramSSN = new SqlParameter(@"@SSN", ssn);
paramSSN.DbType = DbType.AnsiStringFixedLength;
paramSSN.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
paramSSN.Size = 11;
sqlCmd.Parameters.Add(paramSSN);
using (sqlCmd.Connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
try
{
sqlCmd.Connection.Open();
SqlDataReader reader = sqlCmd.ExecuteReader();
if (reader.HasRows)
{
while (reader.Read())
{
patient = new Patient()
{
SSN = reader[0].ToString(),
FirstName = reader[1].ToString(),
LastName = reader["LastName"].ToString(),
BirthDate = (DateTime)reader["BirthDate"]
};
}
}
else
{
patient = null;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw;
}
}
return patient;
}
// This method simply deletes all records in the Patients table to reset our demo.
static int ResetPatientsTable()
{
int returnValue = 0;
SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand("DELETE FROM Patients");
using (sqlCmd.Connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
try
{
sqlCmd.Connection.Open();
sqlCmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
returnValue = 1;
}
}
return returnValue;
}
}
class Patient
{
public string SSN { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
public DateTime BirthDate { get; set; }
}
}
You can quickly check that the actual data on the server is encrypted by querying the Patients data with SSMS (using your current connection where Column Encryption Setting is not yet enabled).
Run the following query on the Clinic database.
SELECT FirstName, LastName, SSN, BirthDate FROM Patients;
You can see that the encrypted columns do not contain any plaintext data.
To use SSMS to access the plaintext data, you first need to ensure that the user has proper permissions to the Azure Key Vault: get, unwrapKey, and verify. For detailed information, see Create and Store Column Master Keys (Always Encrypted).
Then add the Column Encryption Setting=enabled parameter during your connection.
-
In SSMS, right-click your server in Object Explorer and choose Disconnect.
-
Click Connect > Database Engine to open the Connect to Server window and click Options.
-
Click Additional Connection Parameters and type Column Encryption Setting=enabled.
-
Run the following query on the Clinic database.
SELECT FirstName, LastName, SSN, BirthDate FROM Patients;
You can now see the plaintext data in the encrypted columns.
After you create a database that uses Always Encrypted, you may want to do the following: