Auditing is a core component of database compliance and security protocols and is usually accepted as a critical step in the overall management of IT operations. Information ranging from trade secrets to financial parameters and even private data ends up getting stored on business servers. And in a data-centric working environment, databases need active monitoring and control to ensure that critical business information doesn’t end up being misused, leaked, messed-up or worse, stolen. The presence of multiple stakeholders in a database can also generate usage redundancies and fallacies that need to chased down and corrected. In short, a business needs to track database alterations with robust and reliable database auditing tools.
Organizations that hold sensitive data need to manage effective compliance with various corporate governance laws and data sharing protocols like HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), SOX(Sarbanes-Oxley), GLBA(Gramm-Leach-Bliley) regulations, EUDPD(European Union Data Protection Directive) and PCI(Payment Card Industry) compliance initiatives. The compliance protocols and data protection parameters that these laws and directives demand aren’t easy for database admins and IT managers to handle, especially with existing issues that arise in a database environment on a daily basis. Database auditing tools help manage these compliance requirements while ensuring that the integrity and sanctity of information is maintained with options such as user management, authentication, segregation of duties, access control and auditing.
Maintenance of user logs and activity history is important as it helps track down the source of any discrepancy that might be arising in a database. These tools also help channelize user activity through a single server, thereby ensuring that admins can concentrate more on server security and less on protecting multiple user machines. These tools are capable of functioning with a wide variety of database environments like Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Netezza, Teradata and SAP HANA, among others.
This is what makes database auditing tools such an invaluable asset for a business enterprise.
