Installation Guide for Oracle Self-Service E-Billing > Configuring the Oracle Database >

Choosing a Database Encryption Method

Oracle Self-Service E-Billing supports Transparent Data Encryption and Tablespace Encryption shipped with the Oracle database. Encryption is an optional feature. If you decide to use encryption, you must choose your security strategy.

Transparent Data Encryption protection ships with Oracle Database 10g and Oracle Database 11g; Tablespace Encryption is available in Oracle Database 11g.

Both Transparent Data Encryption and Tablespace Encryption provide secure storage and management of encryption keys in Oracle Wallet.

Transparent Data Encryption enables encryption of sensitive data in database columns.

Tablespace Encryption is an alternative to Transparent Data Encryption column encryption by enabling encryption of an entire tablespace. You can use Transparent Data Encryption if you only have small amount of data to encrypt, or use Tablespace Encryption to encrypt an entire tablespace, eliminating the need to identify which columns contain sensitive data.

NOTE:  It is very important to know how to administer the Oracle Self-Service E-Billing database before choosing and implementing any database encryption strategy. See Oracle Database Advanced Security Administrator's Guide on Oracle Technology Network for details.

This task is a step in Roadmap for Configuring the Oracle Self-Service E-Billing Database.

To choose a database encryption method

• Identify which data is sensitive, and decide which encryption solution is suitable for your organization:
  • For Transparent Data Encryption, identify which columns contain sensitive data.

    For details on implementing Transparent Data Encryption, see Process of Implementing Transparent Data Encryption.

  • For Tablespace Encryption, identify which tablespaces contain sensitive data.

    For details on implementing Tablespace Encryption, see Process of Implementing Tablespace Encryption. Consider the potential for a reduction in performance of about 9% when database-level encryption is enabled.

    NOTE:  There are some restrictions when using Transparent Data Encryption. See Oracle Database Advanced Security Administrator's Guide on Oracle Technology Network for details.