I just ran across this post from EWeek, Oracle Locks DBAs in the Vault.

A quick read of it shows that it’s a security add on to restrict DBA

access to privacy data. A solution for audit requirements for things

like Sarb-Ox and HIPAA.

A look at the Oracle Database Vault page on OTN, adds some more context:

What is Oracle Database Vault?

You can read the rest of this blog entry at Oracle Data Vault.