RE: Using DD to Read Data from Oracle Datafiles

Having read through several of the sites that purport to express Oracle best practices in light of Sarbanes-Oxley, I can safely say that if all recommendations are implemented, you would have a completely secure database.  

And also one that could only be accessed by a dumb terminal hardwired into the Oracle server.  

Andrew W. Kerber
Oracle DBA
UMB     "If at first you dont succeed, dont take up skydiving"

-----Original Message-----
From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org
[mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of Mark W. Farnham
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 8:05 PM To: Mark.Bobak_at_il.proquest.com; kevinc_at_polyserve.com; 'freelists' Subject: RE: Using DD to Read Data from Oracle Datafiles  

While I agree, in some corners this runs into the whole Sarbanes Oxley catastrophe where the folks who facilitated the apparently false financial reports of Enron are amongst the beneficiaries of the CPA consultant full employment act to make life miserable to the most honest and honorable rank and file group of people on the planet (DBA/sysadmins).  

So then the game shifts to "how can we prevent the DBAs and sysadmins from discerning real data?"  

I am not claiming to know a good universal answer. Starting by hiring Dirty Harry as your HR director wouldn't be a bad start though.  

I'd wink, but the overhead to American business is so sad it nearly brings me to tears.  

mwf  

From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org
[mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of Bobak, Mark
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 4:13 PM To: kevinc_at_polyserve.com; freelists
Subject: RE: Using DD to Read Data from Oracle Datafiles  

Kevin makes a fair point. I don't know about other shops, but our production database servers are dedicated to being database servers. The only users who are given logins are sysadmin and dba. I can't think of any valid reason that anyone else would need login access on a production database server. If you limit the users who have access to the servers at all, then you really don't have to worry about the myriad of possible local attacks.  

-Mark  

--

Mark J. Bobak

Senior Oracle Architect

ProQuest Information & Learning

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which shouldn't be
done at all.  -Peter F. Drucker, 1909-2005

 

 

________________________________

From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org


[mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Closson

Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 4:00 PM
To: freelists
Subject: RE: Using DD to Read Data from Oracle Datafiles

If you are worried about a user getting to the dd(1) command, you should
probably worry about then compiling C (libc), or having shell access at
all, no?

 

________________________________

From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org


[mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of rjamya

Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 12:39 PM
To: naqimirza_at_yahoo.com
Cc: Oracle-L @ freelists.org
Subject: Re: Using DD to Read Data from Oracle Datafiles

 

So, 

You can make sure that
1. any normal user can't get to the raw (or cooked) datafiles.
2. They don't have access to 'dd' command

in addition to whatever else that you are doing.

 


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