Loglogic Database Security Manager appliance review

DSM can also create rule sets that apply best practises for a range of data protection regulations. These include PCI-DSS, HIPPA and SOX plus a general best practises option that takes the best bits from each regulation.

We had no problems creating test rules and used one to monitor for select' statements on our test databases and put an entry in the DSM log to flag it for attention. After creating tables in our SQL database we saw that new alerts were displayed for these activities.

Each alert entry is accompanied by four icons allowing you to quickly create a rule for this activity, trust the session, terminate it or resolve it. For the latter you enter text explaining what actions were taken which will be logged for auditing purposes.

vPatches incur an additional yearly subscription charge but they're very easy to use. LogLogic notifies you via alerts when new ones are available so you just select them and decide which databases to apply them to. All rules are created automatically so there's nothing much to do and no downtime to worry about.

SQL injection attacks are covered by vPatches but base lining is not a feature offered by DSM. If you want to get a clear picture of normal database activity then you'll need an MX or LX appliance. DSM sends database usage information to these boxes allowing them to create baselines but they can't interact with the DSM and activate rules.

There may a good selection of database security solutions currently available but LogLogic stands out with its unique vPatch option. Furthermore, the DSM appliance and sensors don't require any database downtime to deploy and we also found rule creation particularly easy and backed up with good reporting.

Verdict

LogLogic’s DSM is priced similarly to most competing database security solutions but stands out with its unique vPatch feature as this does away with the need for expensive downtime when applying patches and updates. It’s also easy to deploy and the sensors have no impact on database performance but if you want base lining you will need to factor in the additional cost of an MX or LX log management appliance.

Chassis: Tyan 2U rack chassis CPU: 2 x 2.2GHz AMD Opteron 248HE Memory: 4GB DDR2 Storage: 8 x 250GB Seagate Barracuda SATA hard disks RAID: AMCC 3Ware 9550SXU-8LP RAID controller (drives in RAID-1 mirror). Network: 2 x Gigabit Ethernet Management: Web browser Options: vPatch yearly subscription from £2,995 ex VAT