Database Confidentiality via Trusted Computing Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Encrypted databases face security vulnerabilities due to the exposure of information through various operations, even when encryption is maintained, and existing cryptography systems struggle to balance confidentiality and functionality.
Innovation Solution
The Database Confidentiality System employs server-side trusted computing in combination with configurable type metadata and rules associated with individual database fields to restrict operations, using integrity protection and encryption to ensure secure data handling and prevent unauthorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If operations are allowed on encrypted data to maintain functionality, then database usability is improved, but information leakage and security vulnerabilities increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the database system into trusted computing components (TCB) and untrusted components. The TCB enforces type metadata and rules to restrict operations on encrypted data, allowing only authorized operations while blocking others. This segmentation enables functionality within security boundaries, preventing information leakage while maintaining necessary database operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces type metadata and rules as intermediaries between the encrypted data and operations. These intermediaries act as a policy layer that mediates which operations can be performed on encrypted fields, allowing the system to enforce security constraints while permitting legitimate database functionality through controlled operation sets.
2Reliability
If type metadata and rules are enforced to restrict operations, then database security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal type metadata framework that can be applied to any database field with encrypted data. The same TCB infrastructure and rule enforcement mechanism handles all fields uniformly, regardless of their specific encryption types or operational requirements. This universal approach manages complexity through standardization while providing comprehensive security coverage.
3Reliability
If trusted computing is used to enforce operation restrictions, then confidentiality is improved, but computational overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial action by allowing only the minimum necessary operations on encrypted data through type metadata and rules. The TCB enforces a restricted set of permitted operations rather than allowing all possible operations, thereby achieving confidentiality with reduced computational overhead by processing only authorized operations rather than evaluating all potential operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A “Database Confidentiality System” provides various techniques for using server-side trusted computing in combination with configurable type metadata and user- or system-definable rules associated with individual database fields to implement database confidentiality. In various implementations, type metadata and one or more rules are added to each database field. Metadata includes a domain, method of encryption, and a pointer to an encryption key used to encrypt the data in the corresponding field. The rules define one or more operations allowed on the corresponding data types. The type metadata and rules are optionally integrity protected and/or encrypted to avoid unauthorized changes or access. Various encryption techniques (e.g., probabilistic, Paillier, etc.) allow some computations to be performed in an untrusted environment without access to the encryption key. This enables the Database Confidentiality System to maintain database confidentiality while performing distributed computation and communications between the untrusted machine and the trusted machine.