If your database connection is not configured to use data encryption, data is sent across the network in a format that is designed for fast transmission and can be decoded by interceptors, given some time and effort. For example, text data is often sent across the wire as clear text. Because this format does not provide complete protection from interceptors, you may want to use data encryption to provide a more secure transmission of data. For example, you may want to use data encryption in the following scenarios:
• You have offices that share confidential information over an intranet.
• You send sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, over a database connection.
• You need to comply with government or industry privacy and security requirements.
The OpenAccess ODBC Client supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL is an industry-standard protocol for sending encrypted data over database connections. SSL secures the integrity of your data by encrypting information and providing client/server authentication.
Note: Data encryption may adversely affect performance because of the additional overhead (mainly CPU usage) required to encrypt and decrypt data.
SSL works by allowing the client and server to send each other encrypted data that only they can decrypt. SSL negotiates the terms of the encryption in a sequence of events known as the SSL handshake. The OpenAccess ODBC Client supports the SSL protocol TLS1, TLSv1.1, and TLSv1.2.
The handshake involves SSL server authentication, which requires the server to authenticate itself to the client.
