Pubudu: Data and Decisions

  “Oracle Deep Data Security” was discussed recently at the Oracle AI World Singapore and it interested me to further study on how data security is evolving in the age of AI. The way data is accessed, processed and protected is changing dramatically with the rapid adoption of AI among the organizations. That’s why I thought it would be useful to explore Oracle Deep Data Security in a simple and practical way. In today’s world, data is everywhere. Businesses store customer data, financial transactions, employee records and much more inside databases. Earlier time, security was mostly handled at the application level. But this approach is no longer strong enough. With AI tools generating queries dynamically and multiple systems interacting with the same database, relying only on application level security creates risks. This is where Oracle introduces a new approach, moving security directly into the database itself. Oracle Deep Data Security is built on the idea that data shou...

  “Bring AI to Data” is a term I recently heard during the Oracle AI World in Singapore last week and it really caught my attention. It sounded simple but the idea behind it is quite powerful. So I thought it’s worth exploring a bit more! Normally, working with data and AI meant one thing, which is, moving data around. We would extract data from databases, send it to external tools or platforms, build machine learning models and then push the results back into the database. But this approach adds complexity, increases costs and introduces security risks. But now, Oracle is changing that model by bringing AI to where the data already is ! The concept of “Bring AI to Data” is straightforward but powerful. Instead of moving large volumes of data across systems, Oracle allows you to run AI and machine learning directly inside the database. This means that data do not have to leave its secure environment. This results faster processing, reduced data duplication, improved security ...

Performance tuning in Oracle Database often focuses on obvious areas like indexes, SQL rewrites etc. But some of the most impactful improvements can come from lesser known techniques. Here are 5 such tuning tricks that can make a real difference in production environments.   Use SQL Plan Baselines to Stabilize Performance Even properly tuned queries in Oracle Database can suddenly degrade when execution plans change due to statistics refreshes or system upgrades. Using SQL Plan Baselines helps maintain stable and efficient execution plans, preventing unexpected performance regressions especially in highly changing workloads. SELECT * FROM DBA_SQL_PLAN_BASELINES; So, don’t just capture baselines, but periodically change them to allow the optimizer to adopt better plans when appropriate. Use Automatic Indexing Automatic Indexing is a useful feature in Oracle Database that can improve performance with minimal effort.  It was introduced in Oracle Database 19c and enhance...

SQL injection is one of the most common security risks in database driven applications. Normally, protection is implemented in the application layer using input validation and parameterized queries. However this approach depends heavily on developers and code quality. The SQL Firewall feature in Oracle Database introduces a different approach by adding protection directly at the database layer. This allows the database itself to identify and block unauthorized or suspicious SQLs before they are executed. How SQL Firewall Works The SQL Firewall works by learning the normal SQL patterns used by an application and then allowing only those approved statements to run. Any new or unexpected SQL is treated as a potential threat and can be blocked. This is especially useful for production environments where code changes are difficult and applications that are exposed to the internet. By implementing security at the database level, organizations gain an additional defense layer without modi...