EU-supported data security research taking place in the UK is exploring ways of making encrypted data searchable without forcing it to give up its secrets.
It's hoped that the work being carried out by Bristol University-based cryptographers could enhance the security level of electronic voting processes and medical record systems, to name but two.
‘When you encrypt an electronic vote, you want the voting authority to add up the votes and give the result of the election but you don't want them to work out who voted for who', Nigel Smart - the head researcher involved - explained in comments published by The Engineer.
The European Research Council has supplied the UK team with two million Euros in funding to look into practical encrypted data search methods, alongside other security areas, too. These include new internet user protection measures, online security testing systems and initiatives that encourage firms to keep up to date with the latest technological advances.
The practical aspect of the encrypted data search programme is a key part of this work, after the experiences of earlier advances in this field.
Two years ago, IBM showcased its fully homomorphic encryption system, which permits data to be secured so that calculations can be carried out, but information relating to identity etc is kept intact.
The IBM data search system draws on significant amounts of computer power and, so, isn't viable for mass application across the corporate world.
Smart and his team's vision is to progress towards a more market-friendly system. It's also to generate something of a security overhaul, steering firms to keep up with the times.
‘As an example, a bank card must work in any ATM in the world so they cannot change the technology in your bank card until every ATM machine is capable of dealing with the next generation of technology', he said, in further comments made to The Engineer.
‘There are a bunch of protocols around that are still in use and we want people to stop using them. The easiest way to do that is to break them.'
See also:
Companies supplying Data Encryption
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