Symantec Database Security Helps Reduce Data Loss and Ensure Compliance

Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced a new release of Symantec Database Security, a key component of the company’s Security 2.0 vision that it launched this time last year. Symantec Database Security 3.0 provides several new capabilities to help companies prevent the loss of sensitive information or intellectual property stored in databases and comply with the increasing number of data protection regulations globally. It incorporates a new Intruder Identification component, built-in heuristic learning capabilities, real-time, transaction policy alerts and integration with Symantec Security Information Manager.

“Losing database information is a serious problem that costs companies hundreds of millions of dollars every year – and it’s getting more complicated as the world becomes more interconnected,” said Don Kleinschnitz, vice president of development, Symantec. “Symantec Database Security 3.0 helps companies reduce the risk of losing sensitive data by giving their IT professionals greater control over database traffic and confidence in their compliance posture.”

Data loss is a concern for any company that stores sensitive information, particularly those that must adhere to common information protection regulations set by industry or government groups. Protecting information in databases from both internal and external threats is a key challenge. In 2006, 116 database breaches were reported, involving an estimated 65 million records, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a non-profit consumer information and advocacy organization. Analysts estimate that the total cost of database breaches in 2006 was approximately $1 billion.

Better, Faster, Smarter Database Monitoring

Symantec Database Security 3.0 offers capabilities to help enterprises lower their information risk and liability by minimizing or preventing data loss and meeting regulatory compliance requirements. It monitors and audits all network SQL activity between end users and databases, as well as helps implement policies, measure and report on database environments to ensure the safe distribution of sensitive and confidential information. Symantec Database Security 3.0 adds several new enhancements and features, including:


Heuristic Learning – New heuristic learning capabilities help reduce cost and complexity by automatically recommending SQL behavior patterns that align with internal IT policies. Recommendations are generated and based on IT enterprise activities such as mergers and acquisitions, new and legacy application implementation and software phase out.
Intruder Identification – This new component allows users to trace malicious or suspicious activity back to the source of the activity, remediate the situation and prevent it from happening again. It does this by matching the user’s credentials or IP address with the information captured on the original backend database transaction.
Real-time Policy Alerts – New transaction policy functionality enables database administrators to monitor and correlate inbound and outbound database traffic with real-time alerts. This helps fine tune and aggregate policies to monitor transactions rather than relying on individual queries or responses, saving significant time and resources.
Integration with Symantec Security Information Manager (SSIM) – New integration allows customers running SSIM and Symantec Database Security 3.0 to view critical database security alerts by consolidating events from multiple Symantec Database Security soft-appliances and presenting them to the SSIM console.

Symantec Database Security 3.0 supports multiple databases, including Oracle, IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL and integrates with hardware device management tools such as Dell OpenManage, Hewlett Packard OpenView and Symantec Security Information Manager. Enhanced, built-in compliance report templates and a new user interface improve usability, while performance improvements increase transaction speed.

Licensing and Availability

Symantec Database Security 3.0 is available worldwide through Symantec’s network of value-added resellers, distributors and systems integrators. Organizations seeking a reseller or distributor should contact Symantec at http://partnerlocator.symantec.com/public/search/.

A pod cast about Symantec Database Security 3.0 can be accessed at http://www.symantec.com/about/news/podcasts/detail.jsp?podid=ent_database_security_30.

About Security 2.0

Security 2.0 is Symantec’s vision for the future of security. As the threat landscape evolves and new ways of doing business and communicating emerge, security must evolve to become more enabler than inhibitor. Security solutions must protect consumers and businesses at every connection giving them confidence that their information and interactions are protected everywhere they go in an increasingly connected world.

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in infrastructure software, enabling businesses and consumers to have confidence in a connected world. The company helps customers protect their infrastructure, information and interactions by delivering software and services that address risks to security, availability, compliance and performance. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.