Oracle Security

The Oracle Security Model

The Oracle security model is a multi-layered one. It incorporates the protection of files and objects both inside and outside the database, as well as a variety of administrative policies and technical strategies. This section provides a brief overview of the range of features that comprise “Oracle security.” Subsequent chapters will describe these features and explain how they work together.

Layers of Security

Have you ever wrapped a very tiny present and decided to have some fun with the person receiving the gift? You put the very small gift-wrapped package into a larger box, put some kind of filler in the box to hold the package still, wrap that package in the same or different wrapping paper, and put it into another box. You continue using larger and larger boxes until the true size of the gift is totally hidden from view. Like packing one box inside of another, there are actually several layers of security involved in setting up and maintaining the protection of your database and system. In some respects, you are hiding layers of files and data from the general user’s view. You are also making some determination about how much security is enough to protect your own particular system, database, applications, and specific data.

The layers of security which you can implement consist of the following:

• Protecting the Oracle operating system files—the RDBMS and Oracle software

• Protecting the application code which interacts with your Oracle database

• Controlling ...