1. What specific challenges in data security were faced by one of the government entities in the Middle East?

Since the customer is one of the government entities, their data is very confidential in nature. Hence, they needed a solution that secures their data, and makes it inaccessible to parties without the necessary permissions or credentials. They also wanted to protect data from tampering by unauthorized users. In addition, they wanted the solution to enable them to comply with data security regulations and reduce the risk of human error. Overall, they expected the solution to improve their operational efficiency by reducing the need for complex security controls.   Can you elaborate on how Clover Infotech’s Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) solution helped address the customer’s need to secure their critical national and defense data?

2. Can you elaborate on how Clover Infotech’s Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) solution helped address the customer’s need to secure their critical national and defense data?

Oracle Database uses authentication, authorization, and auditing mechanisms to secure data in the database, but not in the operating system data files where data is stored. To protect these data files, TDE encrypts the sensitive stored data. Hence, it stops unauthorized attempts from the operating system to access database files, without impacting how applications access the data using SQL. In addition, to prevent unauthorized decryption, TDE stores the encryption keys in a security module external to the database, called a keystore.

3. Can you highlight the key benefits of implementing TDE for securing confidential data?

TDE offers the following benefits: It encrypts data so that it remains safe even in the event of data loss or theft TDE enables organizations to address security-related regulatory compliance issues. With TDE, one does not need to create auxiliary tables, triggers, or views to decrypt data for the authorized user or application. Data from tables is transparently decrypted for the database user and application. Using online or offline encryption of existing un-encrypted tablespaces enables businesses to implement TDE with little or no downtime. Oracle Database automates TDE master encryption key and keystore management operations. The user or application does not need to manage TDE master encryption keys. To summarize, TDE enabled the customer to ensure that sensitive data is encrypted, meets compliance requirements, and provides functionality that streamlines operations.

4. How quickly was the TDE solution successfully implemented to protect the data, and what were the results?

The implementation of TDE solution was successfully completed within a month. This solution enabled the customer to secure their data in Oracle databases, while simultaneously ensuring that it is available to authorized people for running their daily operations.

5. Did the implementation of TDE require any changes at the application level, or did it solely operate at the database level for encryption?

Implementation of TDE does not require modifications at the application level. The database manages the data encryption and decryption. Oracle database automates TDE master encryption key and keystore management operations. The user or application does not need to manage TDE master encryption keys.

CXO Today engaged in an exclusive interview with Neelesh Kripalani, CTO at Clover Infotech.