12c: Network Data Encryption

Few organizations today have access to truly private and secure networks; instead, they share network infrastructure with other organizations. As a result, information traveling over these public or virtual private networks is often vulnerable to interception. The purpose of a secure cryptosystem is to convert plaintext data into unintelligible ciphertext based on a key, in such a way that it is very hard (computationally infeasible) to convert ciphertext back into its corresponding plaintext without knowledge of the correct key.

12c: Transparent Sensitive Data Protection

TSDP is the another new security feature of Oracle 12c , basically a complement to Data Redaction and Virtual Private Database. It allows to categorize sensitive columns across database and then to set a policy to each defined category of columns for example telephone number columns' policy to redact into a random number.

The packages DBMS_TSDP_MANAGE and DBMS_ TSDP_PROTECT are used to manage the categories and policies.

12c: Data Redaction

Oracle Data Redaction  is the feature which enables to mask data at run time that is returned from queries issued by applications. During the time that the data is being masked or redacted, all of the data processing is performed normally, and the back-end referential integrity constraints are preserved. It is ideal for situations in which you must redact specific characters out of the result set of queries of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) returned to certain application users. 

12c: Using Transparent Data Encryption

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, Oracle Database provides Transparent Data Encryption (TDE). TDE encrypts sensitive data stored in data files. To prevent unauthorized decryption, TDE stores the encryption keys in a security module external to the database, called a keystore.

12c: Using In-Memory Column Store

The In-Memory Column Store (IM column store) is an optional portion of the system global area (SGA) that stores copies of tables, table partitions, and other database objects. In the IM column store, data is populated by column rather than row as it is in other parts of the SGA, and data is optimized for rapid scans, it does not replace the buffer cache, but acts as a supplement. The IM column store is included with the Oracle Database In-Memory option. To enable the IM column store, the INMEMORY_SIZE initialization parameter must be set to a non-zero value.

12c: Monitor SGA Memory on PDB

The CDB and all pluggable databases (PDBs) share a single database instance composed of the system global area (SGA) and background processes. Because of this sharing of memory resources, it would be desirable to distinguish resource usage among databases sharing the instance. You can use the below script to get it.

12c: Enterprise Manager Database Express

For Oracle Database 12c, Enterprise Manager Express enables you to perform administrative tasks such as managing user security and managing database memory and storage. You can also view performance and status information about your database. You can access Enterprise Manager Database Express using the URL that was displayed during installation. The default port used is 5011. In case you want to use a different port, you need to configure the port using the dynamic protocol registration method. After the HTTP port is configured, you use it to access Enterprise Manager Express.

12c: SYSBACKUP, SYSDG and SYSKM Administrative Users

In order to support segregation of duties requirements, Oracle 12c has introduced new administrative roles to conform to the principle of access to the least privilege. Three new user SYSBACKUP, SYSDG and SYSKM are created in support of this, when the database is created, with their account in the “EXPIRED & LOCKED” status. A equivalent administrative privilege with the same name as the user is created as well.