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With the growing complexity of business transactions, organizations need to protect huge repositories of data in the form of customer records, confidential information about their business and customers, and intellectual property. Protecting the database from both external and internal threats has thus become a major concern for any organization aiming to gain a competitive edge in the market and win over the loyalty of its customers.
  
Database security has emerged as a critical issue for companies today. Although database security has attained a status where companies are paying serious attention to those who have access to sensitive data and what are they doing with it, it is important to note that there is no cure-all for database security. It is still in the work-in-progress stage and requires the effective collaboration of people, processes and technologies to be successful.
  
Due to the rise in incidences that cause loss of sensitive information, the demand for database security solutions is growing by the day. Customers are increasingly demanding enhanced security features for protecting their critical data. Taking note of the trends in the market, database security vendors have been working to upgrade their security offerings to highly-demanding customers.
  
For example, Sentrigo released an update to Hedgehog, a security solution that defends against malicious attacks on Oracle databases; Symantec released its Database Security 3.0 which includes 'Intruder Identification'; Secerno launched its SQL v2.1, which offers high-level data protection to organizations.
  
According to analysts, encryption has reached a high level of acceptance in organizations. Most companies have some form of encryption strategy in place, and there has been a steady growth in companies turning to encryption for securing their data. However, encryption is just one layer in multi-layered database defense. Although encryption acts as a critical protection layer, a holistic security strategy should include other security procedures and processes, including auditing, authentication, and access control.
  
Merely protecting an organization's data is not enough; data integrity is equally important for ensuring the success of an appropriate and auditable data security strategy. It is also important to note that protecting corporate data requires more than just network security. Because companies today face a wide range of security issues, a holistic and broad security strategy is required for ensuring sufficient data security.
  
With the growth of the Web, securing information has become crucial for organizations. Companies often find it difficult to prevent security breaches and therefore need to implement an effective security strategy, the first step of which should be to establish a common method for data classification for all employees. As malicious insiders are more often the cause of database security breaches, companies face a challenge in providing employees with appropriate access to sensitive information that does not compromise information security.
  
The primary drivers for security-related actions include the company's internal policies, protecting the organization's brand name, government and industry regulations, industry best practices and standards, and service level agreements (SLAs).
  
With an increase in incidents of loss of customer records, confidential information, and intellectual property, a huge demand for data security appliances has arisen. The data security appliance market is consequently expected to grow steadily in the coming years.
  
Our partners at Analysts Perspectives present an overview of database security based on analyst observations, predictions, and opinions.
  
Some key findings include the fact that information security breaches cost an estimated USD 90 to USD 305 per lost record; the cost of sensitive data break is predicted to increase 20 percent per year through 2009; government regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are the leading drivers for security-related compliance among organizations.