Oracle Expands Cloud Security Services at OpenWorld 2019

The company broadens its portfolio with new services developed to centralize and automate cloud security.

Oracle today announced new cloud security services at its annual OpenWorld conference, held this week in San Francisco. The latest additions to its portfolio are intended to eliminate some of the complexity in configuring cloud security and automate certain cloud security processes.

New services include Oracle Data Safe, Oracle Cloud Guard, and Oracle Maximum Security Zones. Oracle’s focus on security isn’t new, but it’s now investing in helping simplify cloud security for organizations that have begun to move infrastructure and applications to the cloud.

“There’s still a fair amount of confusion there,” says Fred Kost, vice president of product marketing for security at Oracle. As cloud misconfigurations and data leaks continue to make headlines, companies worry about moving their most sensitive information to the cloud. Despite growing confidence in the security of cloud computing, those that have moved some processes into cloud environments hesitate to move the most business-critical apps and data.

“We’re trying to make that part less risky, easier for the customer,” Kost notes. While many are aware of the shared responsibility model, they’re unsure what, exactly, they have to configure.

Oracle Data Safe is a “control center” intended to automate database security and give admins greater visibility into issues related to data, users, or configuration. Admins can use it to monitor database activity, find sensitive data, or mask databases. Data Safe is designed to protect Oracle Database cloud services, including the Autonomous Database released two years ago. “It’s a little different in that it’s focused on all of our cloud databases,” says Kost, who adds that Data Safe is geared toward protecting data while automating security in a cloud environment.

Data Safe is available now on Oracle Cloud and included with all Oracle Database cloud services.

Cloud Guard is focused on threat detection. This service continuously collects data from every part of the infrastructure and application stack, including Data Safe, Oracle OS Management Service, audit logs, and third-party tools. The idea is to analyze data and detect threats without human oversight. “Organizations want that visibility and consistency of what’s happening in their infrastructure,” Kost adds. If it detects suspicious behavior, Cloud Guard can automatically shut down a malicious instance and revoke user permissions.

Maximum Security Zones consist of an enclave in a business environment where admins can effectively lock down resources to known security configurations, automatically prevent configuration changes, and continuously monitor and block malicious activity. Security is mandatory and always on, decreasing risk for organizations worried about misconfiguration.

Both Cloud Guard and Maximum Security Zones will be generally available early next year, Kost says.

“We are seeing enterprises make too many configuration errors when setting up their cloud services. This is putting their business at risk needlessly,” said Ovum research director Maxine Holt in a statement. “By allowing for pre-set templated configuration of their cloud services, enterprises will be better protected knowing that the right security services are not only turned on, but more closely aligned to their business needs and policies.”

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Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance & Technology, where she covered financial … View Full Bio

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