Oracle announces a new automated database that can patch cybersecurity flaws itself
Oracle 18c can instantly patch itself while still running and doesn’t have to go online
By Becky Peterson
Larry Ellison didn’t wait long after coming onto the Oracle OpenWorld conference stage in San Francisco before announcing a new set of cybersecurity-oriented products.
In his first keynote of Oracle’s annual use conference, the executive chairman announced a new autonomous database that can patch itself from cybersecurity flaws without having to go offline.
The automated database, called Oracle 18c, can instantly patch itself while still running, which Ellison says is a big advantage over the current system, in which humans have to schedule downtime for a database.
“It didn’t work at Equifax,” Ellison said, in reference to the consumer credit reporting company that announced a major security breach in early September.
“ It doesn’t work. We have to automate our cyber defences. And you have to be able to defend yourselves without taking all of your computer systems offline or shutting down your databases,” Ellison said.
At the heart of this new database machine learning, which Ellison said will continuously tune itself without human intervention.