Oracle announced its next steps in its security strategy, disclosing plans to integrate security into its applications line and broaden Secure Enterprise Search. Oracle has spent a lot of money to ensure it’s taken seriously as a security vendor, buying up a number of access management, identity management, and other security software makers. At a security strategy briefing Wednesday, Oracle promised to integrate security into the Fusion applications it will make available beginning in 2008. On the database side, the company offers its Advanced Security Option for data encryption, Database Vault for protecting against insiders seeking to abuse their data access privileges, Label Security for designating data for different levels of security, and Secure Backup for encrypting backup tapes. Oracle also covers a variety of identity management capabilities, including directory services, authentication, Web-services access control, and single sign-on for multiple applications.