Re: Oracle Innobase Purchase Impacts MySQL.

jkstill_at_gmail.com wrote:

> Actually, I don't believe that there are any regulations
> that directly affect the database software.
>
> Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA are all about process and accountability.
> I am much more familiar with SarbOx.

You are correct in one sense ... incorrect in another.

Here is the practical reality.

To comply with the auditability and accountability it is necessary required System Admins and DBAs not be able to access any part of the data, by any means, that can not be audited.

What makes this a practical reality is that, from my personal experience (not rumor or myth) some of the big accounting firms refuse to sign off on financial statements unless assured that the auditing ability is in place.

Thus anything less than Oracle 9i system triggers and FGAC, and preferrably 10gR1 FGA and DBMS_CRYPTO, and 10gR2 Transparent Data Encyption are critically important.

So while the law may not mandate specific software and/or technology. In the real world auditors are. And be scared, very scared, with respect to the first lawsuit in which a plaintiff's attorney finds out that someone could have altered data without an audit. The out of court settlement will likely be both swift and expensive.

IT training, in the future, will likely involve a course on the law. And employers will not hire people that are not aware of the legal ramifications of their decisions. I now cover SarbOx, FACTA, and HIPAA as part of my regular course curriculum because the writing is on the wall.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
http://www.psoug.org
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace x with u to respond)