A senior database manager at one of the world’s largest banks once told me that the best way to secure Oracle is to unplug it from the wall…and he is probably right. In fact, this holds true for nearly every networked application. Unfortunately, for many of us turning off the database is not an option; we must find another way to secure our systems. New technologies and services drive revenue for businesses, particularly those that provide a tailored experience to customers.These systems frequently require storing, processing, and offering access to personal information. No different are the systems that store corporate secrets or financial information. Much of the data they store is extremely sensitive, but it all needs to be readily and easily accessible nonetheless.This creates a significant data security challenge, one we will address in detail throughout this volume.

This book is designed to help you establish a practical security program for Oracle databases.We will create a means for measuring and assessing the security of your databases, and give you tools to create a security scorecard for each of your Oracle databases.This is not a Database Administrator (DBA) handbook—far from it. Instead, we are writing to the entire database security community, which includes DBAs, but also includes Information Technology (IT) security staff, auditors, and even the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

This is the only practical, hands-on guide available to database administrators to secure their Oracle databases. This book will help the DBA to assess their current level of risk as well as their existing security posture. It will then provide practical, applicable knowledge to appropriately secure the Oracle database. The book's companion Web site contains dozens of working scripts that DBA's can use to secure and automate their Oracle databases.

* The only practical, hands-on guide for securing your Oracle database published by independent experts.
* Companion Web site contains dozens of scripts to help you automate security tasks.
* Your Oracle database does not exist in a vacuum, so this book shows you how to securely integrate your database into your enterprise.