YugabyteDB Regulatory Compliance

Introduction

Did you know that nearly 60% of organizations struggle to meet regulatory compliance due to complex database architectures? As enterprises store more sensitive data, ensuring compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOX is critical.

YugabyteDB is a distributed SQL database that provides basic audit logging and security measures. However, it lacks comprehensive compliance enforcement, advanced audit capabilities, and dynamic masking—areas where DataSunrise significantly enhances YugabyteDB’s compliance posture.

Key Compliance Requirements for YugabyteDB

GDPR: Protecting Personal Data

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates strict handling of EU citizens’ personal data. YugabyteDB offers:

• Basic auditing through PostgreSQL’s pgaudit extension.
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for restricting access.
• Encryption at rest and in transit for data protection.

However, YugabyteDB does not offer automated compliance reporting or granular data masking, which are critical for GDPR.

HIPAA: Securing Health Information

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires strict safeguards for Protected Health Information (PHI). YugabyteDB meets basic HIPAA security requirements with:

• AES-256 encryption for sensitive data.
• Session and object-level audit logging via pgaudit.
• User access controls to restrict unauthorized database access.

PCI-DSS: Protecting Payment Data

For businesses handling credit card transactions, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) compliance is mandatory. YugabyteDB provides:

• Basic audit logging of transactions.
• Granular user privileges via PostgreSQL’s RBAC.
• No built-in dynamic masking to protect cardholder data.

SOX: Ensuring Financial Transparency

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) demands transparency in financial reporting. YugabyteDB supports SOX compliance by:

• Tracking modifications through PostgreSQL’s logging features.
• Logging user sessions to provide insights into database activity.
• Lack of automated SOX compliance reporting.

Native Audit Features in YugabyteDB

1. Basic Audit Logging

YugabyteDB provides basic audit logging via pgaudit. It captures:

• Session-level logs
• Object-level logs
• DDL and DML operations

Example: Enabling pgaudit for YSQL

CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pgaudit;
SET pgaudit.log = 'ALL';
SET pgaudit.log_parameter = ON;

2. Encryption and Access Control

• AES-256 encryption secures data at rest.
• TLS encryption protects data in transit.
• RBAC grants/restricts user privileges.

Example: Configuring User Roles

CREATE ROLE compliance_officer WITH LOGIN PASSWORD 'SecurePass!';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT ON customers TO compliance_officer;

3. Vulnerability Disclosure and Security Policies

YugabyteDB offers a Vulnerability Disclosure Policy to track database security weaknesses.

Enhancing YugabyteDB Compliance with DataSunrise

1. Advanced Dynamic Data Masking

Unlike YugabyteDB, DataSunrise offers real-time, role-based masking to protect sensitive data.

Key Features

• Dynamic data masking prevents unauthorized exposure.
• Adaptive masking rules adjust based on user roles and session contexts.
• Field-level masking ensures compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS.

Example: Role-Based Masking with DataSunrise

SELECT name, credit_card_number FROM customers;

2. Real-Time Audit Logging and Threat Detection

YugabyteDB provides text-based logs, but DataSunrise adds AI-powered anomaly detection and graphical dashboards for better monitoring.

Key Features

• Machine-learning-based security analytics.
• Automated compliance reporting aligned with GDPR, SOX, and PCI-DSS.
• Detailed forensic logs for security analysis.

3. Seamless Database Activity Monitoring

DataSunrise transforms YugabyteDB’s static logs into an interactive, real-time compliance dashboard.

Example: Interactive Dashboard

4. Integration with Different Audit Storages

Unlike YugabyteDB’s native logging, DataSunrise ensures consistent masking setup and has several audit storage options available.

5. Automated Compliance Policy Enforcement

DataSunrise enables Compliance Policy Automation via its Automated Compliance Manager:

• Granular access control policies.
• Automated compliance reporting.
• Industry-specific compliance frameworks.

Example: Setting Up a Policy in DataSunrise’s Compliance Manager

To set up a compliance policy in just a few clicks, you’ll need to head over to “Data Compliance” tab in DataSunrise and click “Add Data Compliance”:

After this, define databases and schemas, where you want this compliance to take place:

Also, you need to define compliance regulations you are going to follow:

Finally, set up periodicity of automatic compliance checks:

This ensures consistent data security policies across all YugabyteDB environments. Compliance we just created masks all sensitive data to something like this:

Customer ID	First Name	Last Name	Email	Phone	Address	City	State	Zip Code	Created At
467c2e49-3c5c-4363-92bc-b7c01675dd62	***	***	a****.*******@*******.**m	1-555-251-4688	***	***	***	80200	2025-03-18 17:34:47.420
6429375a-fc26-4acb-a416-d17c1e2b36ec	***	***	j***.***@*******.**m	1-555-923-4909	***	***	***	62700	2025-03-18 17:34:47.420
9d5d2c91-ae2e-42ae-bbd1-00cbb16efe9a	***	***	b**.********@*******.**m	1-555-143-9462	***	***	***	73300	2025-03-18 17:34:47.420
91772d47-1b24-43f7-9cfd-85f16a9948ae	***	***	j***.*****@*******.**m	1-555-991-7244	***	***	***	02100	2025-03-18 17:34:47.420
d61011ec-f7dc-4d1e-a58c-4f3e56537622	***	***	e****.*****@*******.**m	1-555-424-1484	***	***	***	98100	2025-03-18 17:34:47.420

Conclusion

YugabyteDB provides basic compliance and security features, such as audit logging and access controls. However, it lacks dynamic data masking, AI-driven monitoring, and advanced compliance enforcement.

Our platform fills these gaps, providing enterprise-grade security with real-time threat detection, advanced auditing, and automated policy enforcement.

To explore how DataSunrise strengthens YugabyteDB security, book an online demo or download the tool and explore it yourself.