How Oracle Cloud Is Enabling Secure, Safe, And Autonomous Databases To Protect Your Data

But this is not always a good thing. Today’s companies are at a higher risk of data breaches and hacks than ever, and the consequences of this can be absolutely devastating. The average cost of a data breach is around $3.8 million.

Small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can even risk going out of business after a data breach. 60% of SMEs which suffered a major cyber attack went out of business within 6 months, according to a study by Inc.

Because of this, protecting your data is more important than ever. And Oracle has developed a suite of tools and database security guidelines that can help you secure all of your most precious data automatically. Not only does this prevent breaches, it also helps ensure compliance with new data protection laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.

In this article, we’ll take a deep look at how the Oracle Cloud is working to secure your information, and how you can benefit by using Oracle databases, SaaS solutions, and more.

The Importance Of Securing Databases

Securing your data starts at the database. For any company using an Oracle SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS service, data protection starts at the database. Oracle processes data from millions of different companies – and uses industry leading encryption to protect all Oracle Cloud Database Services.

According to Oracle, all cloud services encrypt your data at every point of contact. From backups, to tablespace data, SQL*Net traffic, search queries, and more.

Everything that could possibly contain sensitive information is encrypted and secured. Encryption cannot be turned off, and automatic management of encryption keys ensures that unauthorized users cannot decrypt this data.

However, while encryption is a valuable tool, it only prevents raw data from being read – it does not prevent hackers from accessing data altogether. For that, Oracle uses a defense in depth approach.

Quarterly security patches are at the heart of the security strategy at Oracle. Every Oracle Database Cloud system is patched – from top to bottom – once per quarter.

This does not just include the OS, but also all databases, firmware, clusterware, and every other part of the system. Patches are released in a rolling fashion, allowing for the entire system to be updated with no user downtime. This system allows Oracle Database administrators to focus their attention elsewhere, and improve other elements of the security strategy. 

Identity – The New “Identity Perimeter”

One of the most unique aspects of database administration in a cloud-based paradigm is the need for consistent, single-sign-on identity tools. Databases are no longer located in a physical environment – such as an office – that requires on-premises access, or a VPN to use them.

That means that, for all intents and purposes, identity is the new security perimeter. Users access Oracle cloud-based systems from everywhere in the world, and from multiple devices, including laptops, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, and more.

Oracle’s solution to this is the Oracle Identity Cloud Service. This service is used across every Oracle service – PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS included. It also supports federated identity across other applications, using OAuth and SAML standards. With single sign-on, customers can easily log into their applications using just one authentication method, instead of having to remember multiple passwords.

This simplifies sign-on, and encourages the use of a single, stronger, harder-to-guess password, which further increases data security. It can also be configured to integrate with third-party systems through an API, which helps with cloud migration and data integrity, and provides a smooth user experience.

In addition, the Oracle Identity Cloud Service integrates with the Oracle Cloud Access Security Broker Cloud Service to help companies protect against breaches, and abide by new data protection regulations such as GDPR.

Additional Layers of Security

Data security is a shared responsibility, and Oracle wants to empower their business partners to secure sensitive data, take control of user access and security, and protecting their data from internal breaches and leaks.

Data masking tools allow for the scrambling and redaction of sensitive information, such as Social Security Numbers, so that they are unintelligible to hackers, even if they do breach the server.

Other features that are offered with Oracle Database cloud services include the Oracle Virtual Private Database and Oracle Label Security, which help provide finely-tuned controls over who can see rows of data. Oracle Database Vault also helps to restrict the access that privileged users have when interacting with application data, which can reduce the risk of both internal and external threats.

Oracle Cloud Products – Working Towards A More Secure Future

Oracle has made it easier than ever to protect your most sensitive data when using IaaS, PaaS, and IaaS services. From automatic updates and patching, to end-to-end encryption and a variety of Database Administration (DBA) tools which can help you secure your most sensitive data, it’s never been easier to avoid malicious attacks and data breaches.

Whether you’re looking to migrate your data to the cloud, or you already use Oracle for cloud computing, these features will protect your data, your company, and your reputation – automatically.  For more information regarding Oracle Cloud, contact us today!