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    Home Database
    • Database

    Oracle DBAs Brace for Urgent Patch Chores

    Written by

    John Pallatto
    Published September 2, 2004
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      More than a few database administrators will likely spending at least part of their Labor Day weekend installing the security patches Oracle Corp. released Tuesday, or if not, they should be, according to one database administrator.

      “I expect a lot of database administrators will be applying these patches over the next few days or over the long weekend coming up — myself included,” said Michael Wessler, a Web and database administrator with Perpetual Technology Inc., a consulting firm in Indianapolis.

      On Tuesday, Oracle released its first monthly bundle of security patches that address more than 30 vulnerabilities discovered by Next Generation Security Software Ltd. between January and February. The patches also cover another 20 loopholes that were recently discovered by Application Security Inc.

      /zimages/4/28571.gifOracle was silent about the security flaws for far too long, Database Center Editor Lisa Vaas writes. Click here to read more.

      The patches are a high priority because they address critical vulnerabilities that have to be fixed sooner rather than later, Wessler said. This is especially true for Perpetual Technologys government clients, which include the U.S. Department of Defense, he said.

      Wessler said he is particularly concerned that the patches involve virtually all of Oracles currently released database and Web application server products including Oracle 10g.

      “What scares us the most,” he said, is that to exploit the Oracle security loopholes, hackers dont need a valid network account— they only need to access a target corporate network. “It makes you think that any bad guys out there can get onto your system no matter what kind of security you have imposed as long as they can get onto your network,” Wessler said.

      The patches address a number of vulnerabilities, and it will likely take a considerable amount of time to implement and test them, he said. “It would have been nice if Oracle would have provided a little more detail in the official documentation” about the potential dangers of the loopholes and about how the patches specifically address them, he said.

      “I know I would prefer that they were providing these patches as they find them” rather than release them all at once, said Wessler.

      Next Page: Straightforward installation?

      Page 2

      Another concern is whether installing the patches will be a straightforward process, he said. “This is a rush job—we have to apply these patches quickly. There is going to be a concern about whether these patches have any bugs themselves,” he said.

      “The danger seems so high we are just going to have to accept the risk and apply these patches,” said Wessler.

      However, the head of another Oracle database consulting company said that implementation of the patches seems “fairly straightforward” and shouldnt cause any major problems.

      Click here

      to listen to an archived version of eWEEK.coms recent eSeminar on protecting customer data.

      Issuing the patches in one set “is a favorable approach. Instead of applying multiple one-off patches they have bundled multiple issues—I think that is more helpful,” said Richard Niemiec, CEO of TUSC, an Oracle consulting firm based in Chicago.

      It shows that Oracle is focusing on the process fixing vulnerabilities and releasing patches in an efficient way, Niemiec said. “This is a good example of that,” he said.

      However, he conceded that the vulnerabilities are severe and database administrators will have to implement them quickly with a thorough round of testing before they go live. “This is a common thing in the life of an administrator” and shouldnt cause any major stress, Niemiec suggested.

      Next Page: A must: Working closely with Oracle.

      Page 3

      Oracle users also need to work more closely with Oracle. Its better for Oracle users to work the companys security experts to solve these problems “rather than stand up at a conference to announce to the world” about the discovery of new security loophole.” said Niemiec, who is also former president of the International Oracle Users Group.

      It doesnt help to publicly disclose these loopholes before Oracle has a chance to develop and release a fix. “If you really want to help, you are going to take it to [Oracle] first,” he said.

      Another database administrator said he didnt believe there was a major concern that Oracle databases were highly insecure before the patches were released this week.

      “The patches are important, but doesnt mean the database isnt secure,” said Craig Read, IT director at M-Trilogix Inc., an enterprise software provider based in Toronto. Oracle has “a secure product [and] a good team working on security issues,” said Read, who is also president of the Toronto Oracle Users Group.

      However, he believes that Oracle could be more proactive about getting information out on a more timely basis. For example, Read said Microsoft Corp. has done a better job of alerting customers about vulnerabilities in Windows and about the patches to fix them.

      “Oracle is very much reactive now,” Read said. But this major patch release “is the first step in the right direction” that gives Oracle a chance to be more proactive at tracking security vulnerabilities and fixing them on a regular basis.

      He also suggested that this is a good time for Oracle to tone down the marketing rhetoric that its database is the most secure and the best in the world. “People are tired of that,” Read said. It would be better if Oracle just continues to acknowledge security problems when it finds them and promptly issues a patch. “People would appreciate that more than just saying, We are unbreakable, ” Read said.

      Check out eWEEK.coms Enterprise Applications Center at http://enterpriseapps.eweek.com for the latest news, reviews and analysis about productivity and business solutions.

      Be sure to add our eWEEK.com enterprise applications news feed to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo page

      John Pallatto
      John Pallatto
      John Pallatto has been editor in chief of QuinStreet Inc.'s eWEEK.com since October 2012. He has more than 40 years of experience as a professional journalist working at a daily newspaper and computer technology trade journals. He was an eWEEK managing editor from 2009 to 2012. From 2003 to 2007 he covered Enterprise Application Software for eWEEK. From June 2007 to 2008 he was eWEEK’s West Coast news editor. Pallatto was a member of the staff that launched PC Week in March 1984. From 1992 to 1996 he was PC Week’s West Coast Bureau chief. From 1996 to 1998 he was a senior editor with Ziff-Davis Internet Computing Magazine. From 2000 to 2002 Pallatto was West Coast bureau chief with Internet World Magazine. His professional journalism career started at the Hartford Courant daily newspaper where he worked from 1974 to 1983.

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