Rename the SQL Server sa account
Another good thing that’s done at the SQL Server community evenings is a 5 minute slot where anyone can have a go at showing something interesting.
Tony Rogerson got me to open the batting to encourage others to have a go. I am not sure who it was who came up next but it was a simple thing on renaming the infamous sa account…
ALTER LOGIN sa WITH NAME = SECRETSA.
Tony was too keen on leaving his laptop like that in case anything broke so just run the same command again..
ALTER LOGIN SECRETSA WITH NAME = SA.
It’s a useful security tip, especially if you are seeing lots of failed sa logins.
Technorati Tags: saN,sql server,logins,security
Comments
Anonymous
November 24, 2008
PingBack from http://www.safewordfordforcitrix.com/andrew-fryers-blog-rename-the-sql-server-sa-accountAnonymous
November 29, 2008
Just one word of warning. There's a 'bug' in the SQL 2008 upgrade scripts whereby the upgrade will fail if the sa account has been renamed. Be sure to rename the account back to sa before upgrading. http://sqlinthewild.co.za/index.php/2008/08/31/renamed-sa-and-sql-2008-upgrade/ The connect item is marked as closed (fixed) but as far as I'm aware it's not fixed in CU1