Oracle Corp, Redwood Shores, California has announced that it is integrating the Open Software Foundation’s Distributed Computing Environment security features with Oracle Secure Network Services, a new network data encryption product designed to provide information security across client-server environments. Secure Network Services, which works with the firm’s SQL NET product, incorporates RC4, MD5 and Diffie-Hellman encryption technologies from the RSA Data Security standard, as well as the company’s own DCE Adaptor. The DCE Adaptor integrates elements of Distributed Computing Environment’s security and location transparency functions with Oracle’s Oracle7 relational database, which will enable developers operating in a Distributed Computing Environment – to integrate authentication, authorisation and encryption capabilities of the Computing Environment with Oracle clients and servers. According to the company, this provides users accessing different Oracle servers in a distributed environment with a single log on facility. In addition, the DCE Adaptor also provides authentification services for groups of users that have already been assigned to DCE’s Security Registry by mapping those groups to database roles. In this way authorisation for classes of users and systems administrators can be managed from a single location whether they are database- or Distributed Computing Environment-specific. Oracle Secure Network Services and DCE Adaptor are both in beta test and are scheduled for release in the autumn, Oracle says. The product works with Oracle7 and Trusted Oracle7 and support for other relational databases is provided via gateways. Meanwhile, Oracle has also unveiled ITSEC E3 and TCSEC C2 security certification for Oracle7 release 7.1, which is expected to ship in the next few months.
