Guardium Launches Data Privacy Accelerator

WALTHAM, Mass. - Database security company Guardium, Inc. has introduced its Data Privacy Accelerator, the first database-centric solution for preventing identity theft, including unauthorized access by `trusted' insiders. The solution debuted at RSA 2006 in San Jose. The Guardium Data Privacy Accelerator builds upon the Guardium SQL Guard platform, the most widely used network solution for database security and auditing, said the company. "Massive identify theft is most companies' biggest nightmare, even if they're too afraid to say these words out loud," said Ram Metser, president and CEO of Guardium. "Databases are rich and under-protected targets. They hold all the confidential customer and employee information you absolutely can't afford to have breached." The Guardium Data Privacy Accelerator delivers a portfolio of pre-configured policies, real-time alerts, and audit reports that are specifically tailored to the challenges of identify theft, based on industry best practices. For example, the system automatically generates real-time alerts whenever anomalous database activity is detected, such as a high volume of requests for first and last names in combination with credit card or bank account numbers. Requests can also be blocked when sensitive information is accessed in unexpected ways, such as after-hours queries or access from unapproved applications. "Protecting customer data is much less expensive than dealing with a security breach in which records are exposed and potentially misused," writes Avivah Litan, research vice president, Gartner, Inc. According to Gartner's September 2005 report entitled, "Management Update: Data Protection is Less Costly Than Data Breaches," companies spend "an expenditure of at least $90 per account when data is compromised or exposed during a breach." This translates to a bottom-line hit of almost $5 million for a company with only 50,000 exposed accounts.