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ACF2 vs LevelBlue DbProtect comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 24, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ACF2
Ranking in Database Security
11th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Mainframe Security (5th)
LevelBlue DbProtect
Ranking in Database Security
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of ACF2 is 2.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of LevelBlue DbProtect is 3.8%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
LevelBlue DbProtect3.8%
ACF22.1%
Other94.1%
Database Security
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1077621 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Examiner at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
A reliable, scalable product for security and auditing of our mainframe environment
It is a good product. It has been used for years. As long as it is configured correctly, it is a very stable product. It depends on how an institution or a company configures it. It depends on an institution's risk appetite. You need to make sure it is configured as per the concept of least privilege, and the logging features, detection and control mechanism, and other things like that are enabled. If you configure it to give access to the public, then there could be compromises. You should also have someone who independently checks it to make sure that it is configured keeping security in mind. If it has been configured for a while, when there are enhancements to the product or when you enhance it, you need to make sure that security is also looked at, and it is configured according to an institution's security policies. I would rate it a nine out of 10.
Marcelo Raza - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Architect at Oakmount
A tool that offers a proper view and division of all databases while also allowing users to do continuous monitoring
I have seen that the tool's installation phase has some problems regarding the versions, specifically the version of SQL. Trustwave DbProtect doesn't accept some versions of SQL. Some credentials when you are installing give some problems, but all of them did pass through the installation phase but gave a certain amount of hard work to be done during the installation phase. The aforementioned area needs to be considered for improvement. The pain points with Trustwave DbProtect were about the installation and problems with the different versions not being accepted. A more compatible version of the product with other databases and operating systems should be possible.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I am deeply impressed with the quality and depth and breadth of security and functionality in CA’s ACF2 and Top Secret products."
"Excellent real-time reporting that saves time and resources."
"The most valuable feature is strict and reliable access control to CICS Resources."
"Know that this tool is a great tool, a good tool to use, because you can quickly automate, quickly provision, and deprovision new users, which is essential when you are bringing new people onboard."
"Without the product, extracting this information may take us as much as several days; instead, we can get it in real time."
"We use this tool to quickly assign privileges to different users as soon as they come in."
"The NOACCESS by default is another very good feature. Also, access rules are straightforward, and easy to understand."
"I love their support. The support is great. They are number one."
"This solution helps our clients to monitor their database use, and detect violations of the policy."
"Its automation functionality and ease of use."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that you can have a good view which is provided with a proper division of all your databases, which you can see in Trustwave DbProtect."
"Database activity monitoring is valuable because it helps monitor and identify any fraudulent or suspicious activities that are executed on the database."
"We are happy with the product overall, including its features and support."
"Knowing what is in your enterprise and its vulnerabilities can save you from being the next headline."
"I have found that transfer and vulnerability scanning are the most valuable features of this product."
 

Cons

"I would like my team and me to be able to use simple browsers, like Chrome, to be able to access mainframe data and provision users using the browser.​"
"Reporting can sometimes include false positives."
"It needs longer rules. The max rule is 32K."
"Initial setup could be complex if you rely on contractors to help with implementation."
"They can work on its ability to work in a distributed environment. It's a mainframe product. As many companies move to the cloud, depending on what cloud models they choose, such as a public, hybrid, or private cloud, it should be deployable. I am not sure if it can be deployed on those platforms. It has been there since the '50s or '60s, and it's still scalable. It has survived all these years, and it's scalable to many platforms, but I don't know about the cloud."
"They can work on its ability to work in a distributed environment."
"The user access review could also be improved. It produces a lot of false positives."
"Regarding stability, I would give it a rating of 3.5/5."
"The other main disadvantage is that the product does not have encryption or data masking, unlike other companies' versions."
"I have seen that the tool's installation phase has some problems regarding the versions, specifically the version of SQL."
"The system that is running scans can become slow to respond. Thus, you should be able to say, don't consume more than a particular amount of resources when scanning."
"We encountered issues with stability, especially during database upgrades and migration."
"We have not been able to integrate this product with a lot of standard incident response solutions, so an open API would help in this regard."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I rate the pricing a five on a scale from one to ten, where one is the lowest and ten is the highest."
"The licensing fees, including support, are approximately $5,000 USD per database, per year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Educational Organization
9%
Construction Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
No data available
 

Also Known As

CA ACF2
Application Security DbProtect, Trustwave DbProtect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sky, Rogers Communications
Pax World Investments, Crest Savings Bank, Magnolia Hotels
Find out what your peers are saying about ACF2 vs. LevelBlue DbProtect and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,148 professionals have used our research since 2012.