10.1. DB2 Security Model: The Big Picture

The DB2 security model consists of three major components: authentication, administrative authorization, and database object security (also known as database object privileges). Figure 10.1 illustrates these components.

Figure 10.1. The big picture of the DB2 security model

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A combination of external security services and internal DB2 authorization mechanisms handle DB2 security. As shown in Figure 10.1, a user goes through the authentication process before connecting to the database. Once the user ID and password have been successfully verified, an internal DB2 process takes over and makes sure that the user is authorized to perform the requested operations. This is represented by the Authorization and Privileges components in Figure 10.1.