Key custodians can use key recovery if the base key password is lost. Key recovery is vital because, without the password, the key custodian cannot change the key’s password or add key copies.
If all users share access to data through the base key and a user forgets the password, he or she can get the password from another user or the key custodian. If no one remembers the password, all access to the data is lost. Because of this, Adaptive Server recommends that you back up keys by creating a copy of the base key that you can use for recovery. This copy is called the key recovery copy.
The key custodian should:
Appoint one user as the key recoverer. The key recoverer’s responsibility is to remember the password to the key recovery copy.
Make a copy of the base key for the key recoverer. Every key that requires recovery after a disaster must have a key recovery copy.
