* Oracle, SQL*Net and Firewalls - press release *

Oracle Announces Firewall Strategy...        

            ORACLE ANNOUNCES INTERNET SECURITY 
      RELATIONSHIPS WITH SEVEN LEADING FIREWALL 
                                      VENDORS 
 
 

    Firewall Integration will Allow for Secure Oracle Transactions and Information Exchange Over the Internet    

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., October 24, 1995—Oracle Corp. today announced it has teamed up with seven industry-leading firewall vendors to enable advanced Internet security capabilities that provide access to corporate and government databases while protecting sensitive information exchanged through corporate firewalls. By integrating databases with firewall technology, users will be able to securely access information inside and outside of firewalls in distributed computing environments. Oracle has initiated relationships with seven industry-leading firewall vendors: CheckPoint Software Technologies, Inc., Digital Equipment Corporation, Raptor Systems Inc., Secure Computing Corp., SunSoft, Inc., Trusted Information Systems, Inc., and V-ONE.  

Oracle is the first information management vendor to supply database-specific firewalltechnology to leading Internet security vendors, removing the security barriers that have prevented companies from making corporate information available over the Internet. With this enhanced functionality, Oracle users can securely deploy many state-of-the-art Internet applications, including electronic commerce and World Wide Web services. These new relationships will also allow Internet users to take full advantage of the robust security features built into the Oracle7 database by ensuring that SQL transactions remain secure through corporate firewalls.  

"The ability to effectively use firewalls in Oracle environments is becoming a
critical need for our customers," said Mark Jarvis, senior director of marketing for Oracle Server Technologies. "By providing Oracle-optimized technology to firewall vendors, we will allow Oracle users to take full advantage of the power of the Internet through integration with existing firewall solutions."  

Firewalls are secure gateways which control traffic into and out of the company’s internal network. To date, leading firewall solutions have not offered support specifically for database network traffic. These relationships give customers access to firewall solutions optimized for Oracle environments. With the rapid growth of network computing and the desire to securely transmit and receive information over public networks, data security has become a critical factor in conducting business on the Internet. Many companies are utilizing firewall technology to separate and secure ever increasing network traffic on internal and external networks.  

Oracle has developed a technology that will incorporate information specific to Oracle SQL*Net, Oracle’s client/server connectivity software, into leading firewall vendors’ products. This enabling SQL*Net firewall proxy is an application that can be integrated with existing firewall devices. This integration will allow SQL*Net packets to pass through firewalls without opening large security holes, resulting in an increased ability to secure Oracle-specific traffic. This enhanced capability is the first of its kind in the database industry. Additionally, the proxy application can allow or deny connectivity based on the use of Oracle Secure Network Services, to ensure end-to-end secure communication and strong user authentication is performed by the target database.  

The leading firewall products utilize different approaches in securing Internet Communications. Digital Equipment Corp., Raptor Systems Inc., Secure Computing Corp., Trusted Information Systems, Inc. and V-ONE use an application proxy architecture, and plan to integrate Oracle’s SQL*Net firewall proxy to enhance their current support of Oracle environments.  

CheckPoint Software Technologies, Inc. and SunSoft, Inc. employ a stateful inspection approach, and have embedded support for controlling SQL*Net traffic into their products.  

CheckPoint Software Technologies, Inc.’s FireWall-1 utilizes a stateful inspection approach to firewall security. Through this architecture, CheckPoint will be optimized for SQL*Net traffic without the use of the SQL*Net firewall proxy. "CheckPoint is pleased to be working with Oracle to enable secure, distributed Oracle environments with CheckPoint’s FireWall-1 product," said Dr. Deborah Triant, president and CEO of CheckPoint Software Technologies, Inc. "As more companies use the Internet to communicate between remote offices and corporate headquarters, as well as with suppliers and customers, secure client/server database transactions are critical to the acceptance of the Internet as a medium to conduct business transactions."  

Digital Equipment Corporation plans to integrate Oracle’s SQL*Net firewall proxy technology into its Digital Firewall for UNIX. "As the Internet evolves rapidly and enterprises seek ways to utilize this powerful public network, data security often emerges as the major hurdle," said Rose Ann Giordano, vice-president of Digital's Internet Business Group. "To the benefit of our mutual customers, Digital and Oracle are working to implement secure and seamless interoperability of SQL*Net and Digital’s Firewall for UNIX."  

The Eagle Firewall family of products from Raptor Systems will incorporate Oracle’s SQL*Net firewall proxy technology. "That the number one information management software supplier is working with Raptor to protect its customers in all aspects of Internet and enterprise security attests to the power and versatility of our application-level approach to security management." said Robert Steinkrauss, president and chief executive officer of Raptor Systems.
"This relationship is significant because for the first time, network
administrators can ensure secure, flexible access to large amounts of data throughout widely dispersed Oracle computing environments."  

Secure Computing Corp. plans to incorporate Oracle’s SQL*Net firewall proxy into their Sidewinder product line. "We are excited about the potential of working together with Oracle," said Kermit Beseke, president and chief executive officer of Secure Computing Corp. "We can now offer our customers Oracle’s expertise in database management combined with the level of security that our Sidewinder Internet firewall provides."  

SunSoft’s Solstice FireWall-1 solution utilizes a stateful inspection architecture, and will be optimized for use with Oracle without integrating the SQL*Net firewall proxy. "SunSoft and Oracle have a history of providing powerful solutions for our joint customers," said Peter Kolsti, senior product marketing manager for SunSoft’s Internet Products. "The enhanced ability to effectively use our Solstice FireWall-1 solution in Oracle database environments will be extremely beneficial to many SunSoft and Oracle users."  

The Gauntlet Firewall solution from Trusted Information Systems, Inc. will include Oracle's SQL*Net firewall proxy technology. Steven B. Lipner, vice president of Trusted Information Systems, Inc., who heads the network security products group, stated, "As we interact with our customers and the market, one of the most frequent requests has been to provide secure database services through our Gauntlet Firewall. Oracle’s products have been mentioned more than any other. We’re excited about our new relationship with Oracle to bring the strengths of our two companies together."  

V-ONE plans to integrate Oracle’s SQL*Net firewall proxy functionality into their SmartWall products. “We welcome the opportunity to work with Oracle to ensure that their products are interoperable with our SmartWall technology," said Marcus Ranum, Chief Scientist for V-ONE. "Oracle will be a key player in electronic transactions. Their move to enable enhanced Internet security capability in Oracle environments results in a strong solution for applications requiring authentication, privacy, and integrity."  

All vendors are members of the Systems Management Tools Initiative (SMTI), an Oracle-sponsored program that fosters closer working relationships between Oracle and providers of complementary administration tools. The SMTI program includes more than 250 products from over 90 vendors, providing a wide range of administration capabilities for Oracle7 database technology.  

Oracle Corp., a $3 billion company, is the world’s largest supplier of software for information management, and the world’s second largest software company. The company offers its database, tools and application products along with related consulting, education and support services, in more than 90 countries around the world.  

For more information about Oracle, please contact Oracle’s headquarters at (415) 506-7000. Oracle’s World Wide Web address is (URL) http://www.oracle.com/. # # # Trademarks Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Oracle7 is a trademark of Oracle Corporation. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Received on Tue Oct 24 1995 - 00:00:00 CET