What are the key components of Oracle Advanced Security?
Oracle Advanced Security (OAS) is a comprehensive security solution designed to enhance data protection within Oracle database environments. Its key components work together to provide various layers of security to safeguard sensitive information. Here's a technical breakdown of the key components:
- Transparent Data Encryption (TDE):
- TDE is a feature that encrypts data at the storage level. It encrypts data before it's written to disk and decrypts it when read into memory, providing encryption at rest.
- TDE uses industry-standard encryption algorithms like AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) to ensure strong data protection.
- The encryption keys are stored securely in the Oracle Wallet, which is protected by a master key or password.
- Data Redaction:
- Data Redaction is a feature that dynamically masks sensitive data in query results to prevent unauthorized access.
- It allows administrators to define policies specifying which columns or parts of columns should be redacted based on predefined conditions, such as user roles or IP addresses.
- Redaction can be applied to various types of data, including numeric, character, and date data, using different masking formats like full, partial, or random redaction.
- Database Firewall:
- The Database Firewall component monitors and controls SQL traffic to and from the database server.
- It analyzes SQL statements in real-time, identifying and blocking unauthorized or malicious activities, such as SQL injection attacks or unauthorized access attempts.
- Database Firewall rules can be customized based on specific security policies and compliance requirements.
- Virtual Private Database (VPD):
- VPD provides fine-grained access control by dynamically modifying SQL query results based on predefined security policies.
- It allows administrators to define security policies associated with specific database objects, such as tables or views, and restricts access based on user attributes like roles, user names, or application contexts.
- VPD enforces security policies transparently, ensuring that users only access data they are authorized to view or modify.
- Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS):
- Oracle Advanced Security includes support for SSL/TLS protocols to encrypt network communication between client applications and the database server.
- SSL/TLS encryption secures data transmitted over the network, preventing eavesdropping and tampering by attackers.
- Oracle databases support various SSL/TLS authentication modes, including mutual authentication, where both the client and server authenticate each other using digital certificates.
- Network Data Encryption and Integrity (NDEI):
- NDEI is a feature that encrypts and digitally signs network traffic between Oracle database instances and clients.
- It ensures data confidentiality by encrypting data in transit and data integrity by appending digital signatures to packets, preventing unauthorized modification.
- NDEI supports encryption algorithms like AES and integrity algorithms like HMAC-SHA1 to provide strong security protections.
- Authentication and Authorization:
- Oracle Advanced Security integrates with Oracle Database's authentication and authorization mechanisms to ensure secure user access.
- It supports various authentication methods, including password-based authentication, external authentication using operating system credentials, and centralized authentication using LDAP or Active Directory services.
- Authorization controls access to database objects based on user privileges, roles, and security policies defined within the database.