Welcome
Security
You can secure your Informix® database server and the data that is stored in your Informix databases. You can encrypt data, secure connections, control user privileges and access, and audit data security.
Security in HCL Informix®
These topics document methods for keeping your data secure by preventing unauthorized viewing and altering of data or database objects, including how to use the secure-auditing facility of the database server.
Securing data
HCL Informix® directory security
HCL Informix® utilities and product directories are secure by default.

HCL Informix® V15.0 documentation
Welcome to the documentation for HCL Informix® 15.0 and related client tools and products.
Product overview
HCL Informix® is a fast and scalable database server that manages traditional relational, object-relational, and dimensional databases. Its small footprint and self-managing capabilities are suited to embedded data-management solutions.
Installing
These topics describe how to install HCL Informix® database servers, client products, and DataBlade® modules.
Administering
In addition to administering the database server, you can tune performance, replicate data, and archive data.
Migrating and upgrading
You can upgrade to the 15.0 release of HCL Informix® or migrate from other database servers to Informix. Upgrading is an in-place migration method that uses your existing hardware and operating system software. Some changes to the Informix database server can affect upgrading from a previous release.
Client APIs and tools
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of client APIs to develop applications for Informix database servers.
Embedding Informix®
When you embed HCL Informix®, you can use enterprise-class high-availability and high performance with embeddability features such as easy programmability, a small disk and memory footprint, and silent deployment.
Extending Informix®
Beyond standard relational database objects, HCL Informix® can be extended to handle specialized data types, access methods, routines, and other objects. Informix includes many built-in extensions that are fully integrated in the database server. Informix also provides DataBlade® modules, which are packages of extended database objects for a particular purpose and that are installed separately from the database server. Alternatively, you can create your own user-defined objects for Informix.
Data warehousing
In addition to designing and implementing Informix® dimensional databases, you can use tools to create data warehouse applications and optimize your data warehouse queries.
Designing databases
The first step in creating a relational database is to construct a data model, which is a precise, complete definition of the data you want to store. After you prepare your data model, you must implement it as a database and tables. To implement your data model, you first select a data type for each column and then you create a database and tables and populate the tables with data. You can also implement fragmentation strategies and control access to your data.
JSON compatibility
You can use the popular JSON-oriented query language created by MongoDB to interact with data stored in HCL Informix®.
Security
You can secure your Informix® database server and the data that is stored in your Informix databases. You can encrypt data, secure connections, control user privileges and access, and audit data security.
- Security in HCL Informix®
  These topics document methods for keeping your data secure by preventing unauthorized viewing and altering of data or database objects, including how to use the secure-auditing facility of the database server.
  - Securing data
    - HCL Informix® directory security
      HCL Informix® utilities and product directories are secure by default.
      - Utilities for checking directory security (UNIX™)
        The database server utilities make security checks before the database server starts.
      - Security warnings and error messages at server startup (UNIX™)
        If a security check that a server utility performs at startup detects a problem, the security check returns an error message or warning.
      - Users and group membership for running utilities
        Most HCL Informix® utilities run as secure users and belong to a secure group.
      - Security of the chunk files
        For Informix® security, store data in chunk files that are owned by user informix, belong to group informix, and have 660 permissions.
      - Security for loading external modules
        Use the DB_LIBRARY_PATH configuration parameter to control the location from which shared objects, such as external modules, can be loaded.
    - Network data encryption
      Use network encryption to encrypt data transmitted between server and client, and between server and other server.
    - Column-level encryption
      You can use column-level encryption to store sensitive data in an encrypted format. After encrypting sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, only users who can provide a secret password can decrypt the data.
    - Connection security
      You can administer the security of the connections to the database server by using authentication and authorization processes.
    - Discretionary access control
      Discretionary access control verifies whether the user who is attempting to perform an operation has been granted the required privileges to perform that operation.
    - Label-Based Access Control
      You can use label-based access control (LBAC), an implementation of multi-level security (MLS), to control who has read access and who has write access to individual rows and columns of data.
  - Auditing data security
SQL programming
You can use the HCL Informix® implementation of the SQL language to develop applications for Informix database servers.
Troubleshooting HCL Informix®
Several troubleshooting techniques, tools, and resources are available for resolving problems that you encounter in your HCL Informix® database server environment.

HCL Informix® directory security

HCL Informix® utilities and product directories are secure by default.

The database server utilities check security before and after the database server starts. See Utilities for checking directory security (UNIX).
The directory permissions of the installation path and key subdirectories must meet security requirements to prevent attacks on Informix® programs. See Installation path security requirements (UNIX).
The onsecurity utility checks the security of the directories of the installation path. When you run this utility manually or when you install Informix® Version 11.50.xC4 (or later version), you are notified of potentially dangerous directory permissions and how to correct the problems. See The onsecurity utility (UNIX).
You cannot continue to use many programs with the database server if a security problem in $INFORMIXDIR or its subdirectories arises. See Securing $INFORMIXDIR and its subdirectories
Most HCL® Informix® utilities run as secure users and belong to a secure group. See Users and group membership for running utilities
The chunk files that hold the data for Informix® must be secure also. See Security of the chunk files.
Use the DB_LIBRARY_PATH configuration parameter to control the location from which shared objects, such as external modules, can be loaded. See Security for loading external modules.