By Ravi Srivatsav
Everyone knows the cost and frequency of data breaches are rising. The question is, do you know if your data is truly secure? I have news for you. It’s not.
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Why? Many companies rely on regular encryption to safeguard data, the organization’s crown jewel. But it only goes so far. Mainstream encryption solutions only protect data in transit and at rest.
When data is in use–when queried or analyzed–and when it moves between stages in its lifecycle–from storage to processing, processing to analysis, analysis to interpretation, and finally to archival–current encryption methods make data inaccessible and require that it be decrypted.
Sophisticated threat actors knowingly target and act on these encryption gaps, putting companies at significant risk.
Continuous encryption
To maintain end-to-end data security, companies need continuous encryption, the only way to ensure data is protected across its lifecycle and when in use. The only way to achieve continuous encryption is through fully homomorphic encryption (FHE).
Here’s the problem: not all FHE solutions are created equal, which causes market confusion and a perception that FHE isn’t viable. That perception couldn’t be further from the truth. Business leaders must understand what to look for to ensure FHE does what it promises: secure data always and in all states without creating performance bottlenecks, implementation complexities, or cost barriers.
FHE’s track record
FHE is not new. It was first introduced in 2009 by Craig Gentry, a computer scientist, in his PhD thesis, A Fully Homomorphic Encryption Scheme. Gentry’s breakthrough provided a solution to the long-standing problem in cryptography—performing arbitrary computations on encrypted data without needing to decrypt it first.
Srivatsav
Vendors began to embrace this technological advancement, offering solutions that promised to maintain data integrity and security. As it gained attention and evolved, FHE became notorious for performance bottlenecks, scalability limitations, and a host of issues that made it impractical for modern business. In today’s digital world where real-time applications need lightning-fast processing capabilities, the promise of FHE became a far-off dream.
Patchwork solutions
To address FHE’s issues, vendors offer hardware accelerators, specialized components to speed up FHE’s computationally intensive processes and make the technology practical for real-world applications. Yet these accelerators have setbacks as well.
Do you remember the 2013 movie “Turbo,” where a garden snail fulfills his dream of winning the Indy 500 after a freak accident gives him turbo-charged speed? During the race, there is a crash. Turbo’s shell gets punctured and his superspeed disappears. Hardware accelerators are like that. The reality is that they’re an add-on to what’s really a snail at heart. If they go down or become inoperable, then you’re stuck with the snail.
There are other issues as well, such as:
•High development costs: Creating such accelerators is costly and time-consuming, demanding heavy R&D investment.
•Limited flexibility: Accelerators aren’t adaptable and new FHE algorithms can make them obsolete quickly.
•Integration complexity: Integrating accelerators with existing systems requires major software changes.
•Performance bottlenecks: Hardware accelerators can create data transfer slowdowns between the CPU and memory.
•Scalability limitations: Scaling accelerators is costly and resource-heavy.
Assessing advanced FHE
New technology innovations overcome the pitfalls of previous FHE iterations and bring the dream of continuous encryption within reach. No complex hardware or other add-ons that create more cost and complexity are needed. Ensuring uninterrupted data security is now a practical, achievable goal in one solution.
But remember, not all FHE is created equal. Here’s what to look for as you assess various options:
•Operate at the speed of plaintext: FHE must support digital business and real-time applications, operating at the same speed as plaintext, the difference between nanoseconds and hours or days (with traditional FHE).
•Preservation of data size and format: Traditional FHE notoriously inflates data size. Data preservation ensures efficient processing and eliminates extra storage and bandwidth costs.
•FIPS 140-2-certification: This certification gives you assurance that FHE meets the highest security standards.
FHE holds the key to true continuous encryption and end-to-end data security, but not all solutions are the same. Traditional FHE and hardware accelerators have fallen short, plagued by high costs, performance lags, and integration headaches.
The good news? Cutting-edge FHE technology breaks through these limitations, making real-time, seamless encryption a reality without costly add-ons. When selecting an FHE solution, look for one that operates at the speed of plaintext, preserves data size, and meets stringent security standards like FIPS 140-2 certification. The future of data security depends on it.
About the essayist: Ravi Srivatsav is Co-Founder and CEO of DataKrypto, the fastest continuous encryption solution available.
