Book excerpt: The current state of database security research and practice is explored in this volume. Contributions are sourced from a wide range of international specialists involved in the field, ensuring a comprehensive cross-fertilization of ideas. Progress achieved in the following areas is given particular emphasis: user groups and roles; database architecture; inference analysis and control; database models; queries, updates and transactions; policy modelling; access control and application design. Invited papers provide a perspective on the implications of security in health care systems, plus current trends in database technology and their impact on security concepts.