New Type Of Encryption Can Prevent Large-Scale Data Leaks In The Future

Could a solution for large-scale data leaks be near? Next week, MongoDB is announcing "Queryable Encryption," a formidable answer to data leaks that have plagued Big Tech and institutions in recent times.

With Queryable Encryption, database users may search relevant data while it remains encrypted. The tool is debuting as part of MongoDB 6.0, Wired reported. The goal of Queryable Encryption is to bring sophisticated cryptography to average users who may or may not have theoretical knowledge of encryption.

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Preventing data leaks

The best part of Queryable Encryption is that it can work with existing databases. Most institutions like governments, businesses, hospitals that store critical information about users already encrypt data to make sure nobody gets their hands on it.

The problem arises when the data is being accessed by the same institutions. For instance, when a hospital staffer is looking at a patient profile, an attacker could gain access to that data.

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Also read: IISc Team Develops Record-Breaking Data Encryption That¡¯ll Make Credit Cards & Passwords Safer

Queryable Encryption retains encryption even when data is being accessed, essentially. The breakthrough is a result of Brown University cryptographer Seny Kamara and his longtime collaborator Tarik Moataz.

Both of them have been working on "structured encryption" that involves encrypting data with a specific architecture "so it can be searched with special tokens specific to each query without data ever being decrypted," Wired wrote.

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Also read: Researchers Create New Encryption Technique To Protect Pics On Cloud Storage

For the uninitiated, MongoDB is a source-available cross-platform document-oriented database programme. With this encryption, data would become available to respective institutions while still masking important details of users that could be stolen by attackers.

What do you think about this helpful layer of encryption to protect large databases? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Newman, L. H. (2022, June 7). MongoDB Debuts ¡®Queryable Encryption¡¯ to Fight Hacks and Leaks. Wired.