15. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the unstructured data comprises well-formed XML documents stored within the column of the table stored in the database.
9. A computer system for searching unstructured data stored in a database, the computer system comprising: a processor; a database; and a computer-readable memory coupled to the processor, the computer-readable memory configured to store a computer program; wherein the processor is operative with the computer program to: receive information indicative of a set of one or more application events that, upon occurrence, cause the processor to intercept database transactions instantiated by database applications with a database management system of the database and to generate electronic records from data in underlying database tables associated with execution of operations by the database applications identified in the database transactions; store a plurality of electronic records created by the processor based on mappings between underlying database tables associated with execution of operations by the database applications and the plurality of electronic records in response to occurrence of the set of one or more application events in a common repository of electronic records in the database that provides an audit trail that cannot be altered or disabled by users associated with the database, wherein each electronic record comprises unstructured data stored in a character large-object (CLOB) format in a column of a table of the database; forward, to a client computer, information configured to generate a first graphical user interface configured to enable a user if the first graphical user interface to identify one or more reference to sections of unstructured data within the plurality of electronic records stored in the database as elements of security rules; receive information from a user via the first graphical user interface identifying a reference to a section of unstructured data within an electronic record as an element of one or more security rules; generate one or more security rules in response to the information from the user identifying the reference to a section of unstructured data within the electronic record as an element of the one or more security rules; create a security protocol that protects the plurality of electronic records stored in the database against unauthorized access to the unstructured data within each electronic record based on the one or more security rules; receive a query designed to identify a set of electronic records stored in the database that meet criteria designated in the query; modify the query in accordance with the security protocol to create a modified query prior to the database management system executing the query that includes the reference to a section of unstructured data within the electronic document identified by the user as an element of the one or more security rules; and cause the database management system to run the modified query against the unstructured data of the plurality of electronic records stored in the database.