Symantec adds intruder identification to database security software

Symantec introduced the latest version of its Symantec Database Security, adding an intruder identification feature and integration with its Security Information Manager.

Version 3.0 of Symantec Database Security adds real-time transaction policy alerts. A new feature that tracks and automatically recommends SQL behavior patterns and IT policies has also been introduced.

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Symantec entered the database security market introducing the software and its 2.0 initiative last year. At the time the software contained auditing and monitoring features. The software supports multiple databases, including Oracle, IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL Sever and integrates with hardware device management tools such as Dell OpenManage, Hewlett Packard OpenView and Symantec Security Information Manager.

Symantec said the latest version also includes some performance enhancements to increase transaction speed. The software also comes with compliance report templates and a new user interface.

The intruder identification component allows users to trace suspicious activity back to its source. It matches user credentials or IP address with the information captured on the backend database transaction.

Symantec is also integrating the components with its management console. Database security alerts will be available for the Symantec Security Information Manager (SSIM).

Symantec's software is an "easy-to-use, high-performance, viable solution," said Industry Analyst Noel Yuhanna of Forrester Research. But the vendor is competing in a crowded market against more than a dozen others, he said recently in a report on Symantec's entry into the database security market.

"A database security solution helps the vendor to further extend its already-established data security presence and moves it one step closer toward delivering an end-to-end enterprise security offering," Yuhanna said.