With businesses becoming ever more data-driven and data-reliant, databases have become their default digital asset storehouse, providing immense benefits of organisation, retrievability, and analytical insight. Covid-19 and the move to remote or hybrid work have only intensified the demand for databases, particularly those distributed through cloud technology. But that concentration of information, however convenient, makes databases a singular target for attacks and a primary security concern.

According to Noel Yuhanna, a VP and Principal Analyst with Forrester Research and a specialist in big data and data warehousing, there has been a marked increase in the number of enquiries related to data security for databases and data warehouses over the course of the pandemic. He noted that ‘many organisations have given data security the highest priority during the pandemic, especially those that deal with highly sensitive personally identifiable information, personal health data and compliance data’.1