# Defenses against security threats

Defenses against threats can be divided into two categories.

- Derby defenses
- Other defenses

The following terms are useful in discussing these defenses.

- System Administrator: This is the person who configures Derby's system-wide behavior. Typically, this is a highly privileged user responsible for allocating machine resources, managing the network, configuring security, and actually launching the Virtual Machine (VM).
- Database Owner: This is the person who creates and tends the databases needed by a particular application. Of course, the Database Owner could be the System Administrator.
- User: This is a person authorized to use an application. This includes end-users, technical support engineers, and developers who maintain the application.

- Derby defenses against threats
  Derby provides numerous defenses against security threats.
- Defenses outside of Derby
  In addition to the defenses provided by Derby, you should take advantage of defenses provided by your machine and intranet.

Parent topic: Part One: Introduction to database security
Related concepts
Why databases need security
Defenses mapped to threats
Designing safer Derby applications
Security terminology