Securing the Oracle E-Business Suite includes protecting the underlying E-Business data in production and non-production databases.  While steps can be taken to provide a secure configuration to limit EBS access, a better approach to protecting non-production data is simply to scramble (mask) the data in the non-production copy. 

You can use the Oracle Data Masking Pack with Oracle Enterprise Manager today to scramble sensitive data in cloned environments. Due to data dependencies, scrambling E-Business Suite data is not a trivial task.  The data needs to be scrubbed in such a way that allows the application to continue to function. 

Using the Data Masking Pack in E-Business Suite environments is now easier with the release of new set of templates for E-Business Suite databases:

• Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3 Template for Data Masking Pack (Patch13898999)
  

This template works with the Oracle Data Masking Pack and Oracle Enterprise Manager to obscure sensitive E-Business Suite information that is copied from production to non-production environments. 

Is there a charge for this?

Yes. You must purchase licenses for Oracle Enterprise Manager and the Oracle Data Masking Pack plug-in. The Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.3 Template for the Data Masking Pack is included with the Oracle Data Masking Pack license.  You can contact your Oracle account manager for more details about licensing.

What does data masking do in E-Business Suite environments?

Application data masking does the following:

• De-identify the data:  Scramble identifiers of individuals, also known as personally identifiable information or PII.  Examples include information such as name, account, address, location, and driver's license number.
• Mask sensitive data:  Mask data that, if associated with personally identifiable information (PII), would cause privacy concerns.  Examples include compensation, health and employment information.  
• Maintain data validity:  Provide a fully functional application.
  

How can EBS customers use data masking?

The Oracle E-Business Suite Template for Data Masking Pack can be used in situations where confidential or regulated data needs to be shared with other non-production users who need access to some of the original data, but not necessarily every table.  Examples of non-production users include internal application developers or external business partners such as offshore testing companies, suppliers or customers.  

The Oracle E-Business Suite Template for Data Masking Pack is applied to a non-production environment with the Enterprise Manager Grid Control Data Masking Pack.  When applied, the Oracle E-Business Suite Template for Data Masking Pack will create an irreversibly scrambled version of your production database for development and testing.  

References

For additional information on the Oracle E-Business Suite Template for Data Masking Pack please refer to the following:

• Masking Sensitive Data for Non-production Use in the Oracle Enterprise Manager Concepts 11g
• Using the Oracle E-Business Suite, Release 12.1.3 Template for the Data Masking Pack, Note 1437485.1
  

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