They are two simple words, but they are two of the most feared words in business: Data Breach! Your data is your business. When companies lose their data, they lose trust and the ability to conduct much of their business.
The problem is many companies spend their time focused on network security instead of database security. Your network is important and should be secured, but your data is the lifeblood of your business. To help you focus on the safety of your database, here is an Oracle database security assessment checklist for 2021. These are some of the best practices and things you can do to secure and protect your data.
Ask Key Database Questions
When many people think about security, it is usually in a general way. They want security, but don’t really define what security looks like. Here are some questions to help you focus your thoughts on your database security.
Are You Using Built-in Security Features?
Your Oracle database has many security features built-in. These can be the first line of defense for your entire database. Many of these features are free and don’t require subscriptions, but are part of your database package.
Do You Have a Current User List?
A database should have a list of privileged users and over-privileged users. This list should show who can do what with the database. This list must stay current as a level of protection and accountability for your company.
Who Is Overseeing Security Fixes?
Oracle often releases security patches and fixes to protect your data. With the speed of business today, these can be overlooked. You should have someone who makes sure these fixes are implemented immediately.
Are You Having Regular Database Audits?
Database auditing is how administrators review the actions of their users. They do this to see who is accessing the database. This helps them make sure that only the people who are supposed to access the database are doing it.
What Is Your Password Policy?
Passwords have to be actively maintained, or they can become an easy entryway into databases. You must make sure that there aren’t any default or non-expiring passwords with access to the system.
Download the Oracle Database Security Assessment Tool
To help their users have safer databases, Oracle developed the Database Security Assessment Tool (DBSAT). The DBSAT is a free tool that Oracle users can implement, and it acts as a database security guide.
DBSAT will scan the database and give you a profile in different formats that helps you see the state of your security. The formats can be HTML, SLS, TEXT, or JSON. This makes the information quick and easy to implement.
The tool will show you some of the security risks that you currently have in the system. It will then recommend relevant products and features of the system you can use to help stop the risks.
The DBSAT focuses on three specific core areas with its security assessment.
1. The General Security Configuration of Your Database
The DBSAT scan will do a scan to make sure you are minimizing database risk. It will look for missing security patches that you can implement. It will also check to see if you are using encryption auditing within your system.
2. Users and Their Entitlements
One of the main features of the DBSAT is its focus on your users and how they are accessing your system. It will identify your privileged users and show you what areas they can access, and any areas they are accessing, but shouldn’t be.
3. Identifying Sensitive Data in Your Database
The DBSAT will help you stay in compliance with regulations by focusing on your sensitive data. It will help you identify your sensitive data and recognize how it should be treated. This also helps you develop healthy auditing systems.
How You Can Use the DBSAT
DBSAT can help you with your security practices by giving you the information you need to implement and enforce strong security for your database. With the many reports it can generate, your security doesn’t have to be forgotten.
DBSAT helps you understand your user accounts, along with the roles and privileges of each user. This helps you find and fix short-term risks. Plus, it can give you enough information to have a long-term security strategy.
Get a Database Health Check
Just like a person should have a check-up every year, you want to make sure your database gets a health check. Have someone from the outside come in and review your database configuration and policies.
They can review your parameters, database maintenance procedures, alert logs, and trace files. They can also help with many other things, like finding your data blocks and identifying invalid objects.
Look for a health check that provides a focused report so you can take action on what is needed. The report should show you possible problem areas and contain recommendations to address the problems.
Your Oracle Database Partners
Reading through this Oracle database security assessment shows that there is a lot to think of when it comes to database safety. Too often IT staff are so focused on protecting your network, the database gets forgotten.
You want to find people who are database experts and make your database their own. Buda Consulting is a group of database experts who listen to your needs and deliver on their promises.
Their passion is protecting your database and helping it to function smoothly. They handle all aspects of database creation and management. Plus, they can show you how to extract valuable insights from your database.
Contact us for a free 15-minute call and let them show you how they can be your database experts.