Data Security

The Top 6 Database Security Software

Discover the best database security software with features like real-time monitoring, intrusion detection, and database encryption.

Last updated on Apr 23, 2024

Written by Joel Witts

Technical review by Laura Iannini

The Top 6 Database Security Software Solutions include:

1. DataSunrise
2. IBM Security Guardium Insights
3. IDERA
4. Imperva Data Security
5. Oracle Database Security
6. Satori

Database security software protects data stored in databases and database management systems from cyber-attacks, data loss, and unauthorized access. Database security software is essential to safeguard your organization’s critical information and mitigate against software vulnerabilities, configuration errors, and insider risks. They also ensure your team is compliant with industry standards and regulations which govern data usage.

Database security software unify an array of features, including encryption, data masking, access control, vulnerability assessment, activity monitoring, and intrusion detection. These features assist organizations in ensuring the safety and integrity of their data, while simultaneously making it accessible to authorized users only. Database security tools must protect all data held in a database, any management systems used to govern the database, and wider network infrastructure.

As organizations increasingly rely on data to drive decision-making, protecting and maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of databases has become critical. To help you choose the right solution for your business, we’ve compiled a list of the top database security software available on the market today. Our evaluation is based on security features, ease of use, and scalability.

DataSunrise

DataSunrise is a data security software company that offers comprehensive data protection for both cloud and on-premises environments. Their data-centric security software is designed to safeguard sensitive data in real-time and assist organizations in complying with regulations such as SOX, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI, and GDPR. The software protects data and databases from internal and external threats, including SQL injection attacks.

The DataSunrise security suite offers a variety of key features such as an intelligent database firewall for real-time threat detection and prevention, data auditing and database activity monitoring, dynamic and static data masking, sensitive data discovery, and compliance automation. DataSunrise supports numerous databases, data lakes, and data warehouses, including Oracle, MS SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL. The software integrates seamlessly with SIEMs like RSA NetWitness, Splunk, and HP Arcsight, providing real-time data feeds to existing management systems and dashboards.

Compatible with various cloud security solutions, DataSunrise enables teams to maintain full control over their databases and managed services in the cloud, offering non-intrusive deployment options. DataSunrise provides centralized management of database security policies, continuous monitoring, and an automated compliance engine.

DataSunrise offers real-time data monitoring and protection using reverse proxy technology, ensuring database and sensitive data security without altering existing system architecture. Users can work as usual with enhanced security practices such as continuous monitoring, real-time alerts, multi-factor authentication, behavioral analysis, and protection against DDoS and brute-force attempts.

IBM Security Guardium Insights

IBM Security Guardium Insights is a data security platform designed to help enterprises address their data security and compliance needs efficiently. With its robust capabilities, it enables businesses to automate the compliance policy enforcement and centralize data activity from multiple clouds. This enhances visibility and provides a consolidated view of how critical data is accessed and used across hybrid environments.

Guardium Insights is tailored for data security specialists, offering a centralized hub for data retention and monitoring for compliance and analytics purposes. It comes with features such as automated compliance, auditing, reporting, and near real-time monitoring. This platform can be deployed alongside existing IBM Security Guardium Data Protection solutions or as a stand-alone platform for efficient data protection and compliance management.

The platform helps enhance data security and compliance visibility through monitoring, retention, and automation, while enabling investigation, action, and protection across hybrid environments. Guardium Insights uses advanced analytics and risk-based scoring to aid data security teams in uncovering areas of risk, threat patterns, and potential application hijacks. Additionally, it streamlines policy, audit, and report sharing for compliance efforts and data protection. Whether deployed on-premises or in public or private clouds, Guardium Insights can automate and orchestrate numerous security and compliance activities.

IDERA

IDERA is a company specializing in database lifecycle management solutions for businesses. With a focus on the importance of data and databases in IT, IDERA aim to help IT professionals and DBAs streamline their operations. IDERA serves more than 20,000 customers worldwide and offers various tools and resources to monitor and manage IT infrastructure, both in the cloud and on-premises.

IDERA’s solutions cover key areas such as designing models and databases, monitoring database performance, protecting database integrity, and managing IT performance. Their products include SQL Compliance Manager for monitoring, auditing, and alerting on SQL Server user activity and data changes; SQL Secure, which provides insights into access permissions in SQL Server; SQL Safe Backup for hands-free backup and instant recovery across SQL Servers; SQL Admin Toolset for simplifying SQL Server administration tasks; DBArtisan for managing and securing multiple database platforms through a single user interface; and SQLyog for managing MySQL and MariaDB databases via an intuitive GUI.

Imperva Data Security

Imperva Data Security is a comprehensive database security solution designed to protect sensitive business data across various phases of cloud adoption. It emphasizes the importance of not just encryption and backup, but also locating sensitive data, who accesses it, and taking immediate action when abuse occurs. Imperva focuses on aligning security and innovation, providing visibility into data activity, offering deeper security and threat context, and unifying sensitive data protection.

This data security solution caters to the needs of modern businesses that operate across legacy, cloud, and hybrid environments. Imperva provides centralized data security by automating detection, protection, and risk response to maintain compliance and support security operations. With enterprise-wide protection for over 65 data repositories, Imperva simplifies data security and compliance through its unified platform for discovery, classification, and threat analytics.

The Imperva Cloud Data Security platform specifically offers data discovery, classification, and protection for AWS and Azure managed database services, going beyond what typical cloud service providers offer. The Imperva Data Security Fabric is designed for hybrid multi-cloud environments, safeguarding all data assets and providing risk visibility to prevent data breaches and avoid compliance incidents.

Oracle Database Security

Oracle offers a range of database security solutions to safeguard data and meet regulatory compliance. Its security suite includes encryption and key management, access controls, data masking, activity monitoring, and auditing capabilities.

Oracle provides several tools such as Oracle Data Safe, Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall, and Oracle Database Security Assessment Tool to assess security configuration, detect vulnerabilities, and manage security across Oracle databases. Utilizing Oracle Advanced Security and Oracle Key Vault, users can ensure proper encryption and key management to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access.

Additionally, Oracle Database Security assists in minimizing risk in test and development environments with Oracle Data Safe and Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting. These tools help identify and mask sensitive data to prevent loss in the event of a breach.

The suite also ensures stringent data access control with Oracle Database Vault, Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall, and Oracle Label Security, empowering administrators to restrict user and application access based on privileges, classification, and context. Oracle Data Safe and Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall monitor database activity and user behavior to detect threats, simplify compliance reporting, and support investigations.

Satori

Satori is a Data Security Platform (DSP) that streamlines self-service data and analytics by providing users with a personal data portal. This platform dynamically applies appropriate security and access policies, allowing users to obtain secure data access in seconds. Satori manages access, permissions, security, and compliance policies from a single console, continuously discovering sensitive data and tracking data usage while applying relevant security policies. This enables data teams to scale their data usage effectively while adhering to security and compliance requirements.

Satori decouples security, privacy, and access controls from the data layer, simplifying the authorization process and allowing data teams to move quickly. By deploying Satori between users and data stores, it automatically classifies and controls access to sensitive data without changing data or impacting users. Satori discovers all data stores, assets, and users and allows administrators to define and tailor access to data.

Satori’s self-service data portal provides users with easy and fast access to data, supporting temporary access and automatic revocation. Integrations with other systems, such as Okta, AzureAD, and Slack, facilitate data access management. Satori classifies data in-transit, continuously building a comprehensive data inventory and enabling role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC). Its audit log feature provides a complete, uniform, and searchable data access audit for all data stores, without impacting database performance. Satori is ISO27001 and SOC2 Type II certified, ensuring its product complies with the highest security and compliance standards.

Everything You Need To Know About Database Security Software (FAQs)

What Is Database Security Software?

Database security software protects the data stored in a database from unauthorized access, data breaches, and other security threats. Databases are crucial components of many organizations as they contain sensitive and valuable information that should be safeguarded against various risks. Database security should protect several key aspects of your data and database system to ensure its integrity, confidentiality, and availability.

Database security is essential for maintaining the trust and integrity of an organization’s data. It safeguards against a wide range of threats, including cyberattacks, insider threats, and accidental data exposure. The specific measures and tools employed may vary depending on the organization’s needs, the type of database, and applicable regulations.

Why Is Database Security Software Important?

Database security solutions are crucial for safeguarding an organization’s sensitive data. They ensure data protection by safeguarding information such as customer data, financial records, and intellectual property. They work to prevent unauthorized access and insider risks that could lead to financial losses, reputational damage, and legal consequences.

They also protect against evolving cybersecurity threats and software vulnerabilities, such as hacking and SQL injection. This is achieved by detecting and preventing these threats in real-time, thereby helping to prevent data theft and leakage through measures like data masking, encryption, and access controls, reducing the risk of data exposure.

Database security solutions also aid in achieving regulatory compliance through implementing necessary security measures and audit trails. This allows organizations to meet legal obligations under regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS. Additionally, they mitigate insider threats by monitoring and controlling the actions of authorized users, reducing the risk of internal data breaches.

For these reasons, database security solutions are essential components of a comprehensive security strategy in the digital age, helping organizations safeguard their valuable assets and maintain trust with customers, partners, and regulatory authorities.

What Features Should You Look For In Database Security Software?

Database security software can include a range of features and tools. These features include:

Access Control: Database security software allows administrators to control who can access the database and what they can do with the data. It typically involves user authentication, authorization, and role-based access controls.
Encryption: Many database security solutions offer data encryption to protect data both in transit and at rest. This ensures that even if unauthorized users gain access to the database, the data remains unreadable without the appropriate encryption keys.
Auditing and Logging: Database security software often includes auditing and logging features that track and record all activities related to the database. This helps detect suspicious behavior and maintain an audit trail for compliance and forensics purposes.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention: These systems can detect and respond to potential security threats and attacks, such as SQL injection, by monitoring and analyzing database activity in real-time.
Vulnerability Assessment: They scan databases for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, or weak security settings and provide recommendations for remediation.
Data Masking and Redaction: Database security software can anonymize sensitive data by masking or redacting certain portions of it, allowing users to work with data without exposing sensitive information.
Patch Management: This feature helps keep the database system up to date by identifying and applying necessary software patches and updates to address security vulnerabilities.
Compliance and Reporting: Database security software often includes tools for generating reports and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations and industry standards.
Activity Monitoring: Monitor and analyze database activity for suspicious patterns, unauthorized access, or data leakage.
User and Role Management: This feature allows administrators to define and manage user accounts, roles, and permissions within the database system, ensuring that the principle of least privilege is followed.
Backup and Recovery: Database security solutions may include backup and recovery features to ensure data can be restored in the event of a security incident or data loss.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): DLP capabilities help prevent the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data by monitoring and controlling data transfers and actions within the database.

Joel Witts

Content Director

Joel Witts is the Content Director at Expert Insights, meaning he oversees all articles published and topics covered. He is an experienced journalist and writer, specialising in identity and access management, Zero Trust, cloud business technologies, and cybersecurity. Joel is a co-host of the Expert Insights Podcast and conducts regular interviews with leading B2B tech industry experts, including directors at Microsoft and Google. Joel holds a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from Cardiff University.

Laura Iannini

Cybersecurity Analyst

Laura Iannini is an Information Security Engineer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity from the University of West Florida. Laura has experience with a variety of cybersecurity platforms and leads technical reviews of leading solutions. She conducts thorough product tests to ensure that Expert Insights’ reviews are definitive and insightful.