Oracle Security

Chapter 6. Profiles, Passwords, and Synonyms

Oracle provides many features that will help you secure your databases. Among these are the ability to create customized user profiles, the use of passwords and other forms of user account controls, and the use of object controls (i.e., views, roles, synonyms, and grants). This chapter describes profiles, passwords, and synonyms. You will find information on views, roles, and grants in earlier chapters.

There are two different forms of profiles available in an Oracle database: product profiles and system resource profiles. Product profiles , though the PRODUCT_PROFILE and USER_PROFILE tables, let you block access to individual Oracle products such as SQL, SQL*Plus, and PL/SQL; you can block by individual command, or you can block the entire product from access by a single user, a specific group of users, or everyone. System resource profiles , as the name implies, let you control the use of resources on your system. For example, through a system resource profile, you can limit the number of separate sessions a user can have at one time or the amount of CPU time which can be used on a per-session basis.

In Oracle8, passwords and password features have been enhanced substantially. The new password features include the ability to age and expire passwords, track password history, and lock accounts. Although these abilities have been around for years in many operating systems, they are new to Oracle databases and a very welcome addition ...