How to Apply Data Governance for IBM Db2

Introduction

Data governance is the practice of managing how information is accessed, protected, and used inside an organization. It ensures that data remains trustworthy, secure, and aligned with regulatory requirements.

For IBM Db2, governance goes beyond understanding principles — it’s about putting them into action. Applying governance means configuring controls, monitoring activity, reviewing privileges, and ensuring data is handled consistently across environments.

Preparing for Governance in Db2

Before making technical changes, administrators should prepare:

• Define the policies your organization must enforce. Include rules for who can access sensitive information, how long data must be retained, and what kind of audit evidence regulators expect.
• Identify sensitive data across schemas and applications. Db2 provides system catalog views such as SYSCAT.COLUMNS and SYSCAT.TABLES that help administrators map where personally identifiable information (PII) or financial data resides. Reviewing these tables early ensures governance measures target the right datasets.
• Consider regulatory drivers such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, or SOX. Each introduces different obligations — GDPR emphasizes data minimization, HIPAA requires confidentiality of health records, PCI DSS focuses on cardholder protection, and SOX demands integrity in financial reporting. Db2’s auditing (db2audit) and monitoring views (SYSIBMADM) align with these requirements to generate the right kind of evidence.

Step 1 – Configure Access Controls

Db2 offers Row and Column Access Control (RCAC) and Label-Based Access Control (LBAC). These features let administrators enforce policies directly at the database level.

Example: restrict each doctor to their own patients’ records:

ALTER TABLE patients ACTIVATE ROW ACCESS CONTROL;

CREATE PERMISSION doctor_only
  ON patients
  FOR ROWS WHERE CURRENT USER = doctor_id
  ENFORCED FOR ALL ACCESS
  ENABLE;

This ensures users see only their authorized data, a cornerstone of governance.

Step 2 – Enable Activity Monitoring

Governance requires visibility into who is connected and what they are doing. Db2 provides monitoring views such as SYSIBMADM.MON_CONNECTION_SUMMARY.

SELECT
    APPLICATION_NAME,
    SESSION_AUTH_ID,
    TOTAL_APP_COMMITS,
    APP_RQSTS_COMPLETED_TOTAL
FROM SYSIBMADM.MON_CONNECTION_SUMMARY;

This query shows current connections, identifying which applications and accounts remain active.

Step 3 – Review Privileges

Governance also requires knowing who holds elevated roles. Db2 makes this possible with catalog views:

SELECT
    GRANTEE,
    DBADMAUTH,
    SECURITYADMAUTH,
    DATAACCESSAUTH
FROM SYSCAT.DBAUTH
WHERE GRANTEETYPE = 'U';

This helps administrators spot accounts with broad privileges and confirm whether they align with governance rules.

Step 4 – Track Data Inventory

Db2’s catalog helps administrators maintain an inventory of tables and row counts. This supports governance by ensuring sensitive data is not overlooked.

SELECT TABNAME, CARD
FROM SYSCAT.TABLES
WHERE TABSCHEMA = 'DB2INST1';

A table inventory makes it easier to track growth, detect anomalies, and verify that administrators properly control sensitive datasets.

What Happens If You Stop Here?

Relying on native features alone provides visibility and control, but governance gaps remain:

• Sensitive data stays fully visible to users with query rights — no dynamic masking.
• Identifying PII or PHI requires manual inspection of schemas.
• db2audit logs generate detail but remain cumbersome to parse at scale.
• Each Db2 instance requires separate governance, leading to inconsistent enforcement.

These limitations create risks such as insider exposure, incomplete audits, and policy drift across environments.

Step 5 – Extend Governance with DataSunrise

DataSunrise is a database security and compliance platform that complements Db2 by addressing governance gaps that native tools cannot close. It integrates transparently without requiring application code changes and gives governance teams advanced tools for protecting and monitoring sensitive data.

Access and Visibility Enhancements

• Stronger access control: Dynamic masking goes beyond Db2’s RCAC and LBAC. It hides sensitive fields such as credit card numbers or medical records in real time, tailoring the view according to user roles. This prevents analysts, developers, or support staff from viewing regulated data, reducing the risk of insider leaks.

  

• Deeper visibility: The audit solution consolidates Db2 activity into dashboards and alerts. Instead of parsing raw db2audit logs, governance teams analyze structured, real-time views of logins, queries, schema changes, and data exports. This allows quicker responses to unusual behavior.

Discovery, Enforcement, and Reporting

• Automated discovery: Data discovery tools scan Db2 schemas to identify where PII and PHI reside. Administrators cannot protect data they cannot locate. Automated discovery ensures no sensitive dataset remains hidden during audits.

  

• Continuous enforcement: With Compliance Autopilot, governance policies for GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and SOX apply consistently. As new users, roles, or objects appear in Db2, the system adjusts enforcement rules to prevent compliance drift.

  

• Audit-ready evidence: Automated reporting produces clear PDF or HTML reports with one click. This removes the manual task of assembling evidence from multiple Db2 logs and helps organizations demonstrate accountability without delays.

By layering these capabilities on top of Db2’s native features, DataSunrise transforms governance from scattered manual checks into a comprehensive, proactive program. It strengthens security and streamlines oversight, ensuring data stays controlled and audit-ready at all times.

Applying Governance in Practice

The following table shows how governance tasks work in Db2 alone versus Db2 combined with DataSunrise.

Conclusion

Applying data governance in Db2 means more than enabling a few features. Administrators must align access controls, monitor sessions, review privileges, and track data inventories. These steps create a governance foundation, but native Db2 capabilities fall short of addressing advanced needs.

DataSunrise extends this foundation with masking, automated discovery, unified auditing, and reporting. It transforms Db2 into a platform that sustains governance across hybrid and multi-database environments. By following a structured approach and augmenting Db2 with DataSunrise, organizations apply governance effectively and maintain it over the long term.