Encrypted tablespaces primarily protect your data from unauthorized access by means other than through the database. For example, when encrypted tablespaces are written to backup media for travel from one Oracle database to another or for travel to an off-site facility for storage, they remain encrypted. Also, encrypted tablespaces protect data from users who try to circumvent the security features of the database and access database files directly through the operating system file system.
You can encrypt any permanent tablespace to protect sensitive data. When you encrypt a tablespace, all tablespace blocks are encrypted. All segment types are supported for encryption, including tables, clusters, indexes, LOBs, table and index partitions, and so on. Tablespace encryption is completely transparent to your applications, so no application modification is necessary.
See Also:
Oracle Database Security Guide for more information about tablespace encryption