Data Encryption in DBMS

Data Encryption:

Confidential data may be stored in an encrypted (coded) form in a database. This encrypted data can’t be read by anymore unless he knows how to decipher (decrypt) it. This process requires an encryption device for converting the original message into a meaningless code, as well as a decryption device for translating the code back into the original text.

An algorithm is known as encryption that can be used for encrypting the data. A good encrypting algorithm has the following features:

• It should be very simple for unauthorized users to encrypt and decrypt data.
• It is very difficult to keep the algorithm secret. Hence, the security of data should not depend on the secrecy of the algorithm, but on a parameter of the algorithm. This parameter is known as a key. The key should be known only to authorized users.
• The key should be used very difficult for an intruder to determine.

Public-Key Encryption:

Public-Key Encryption is one of the commonly used technique for data encryption. In this technique, two separate keys are used. It uses one key for encryption say A and another key use for decryption say B. The encryption key is placed in a public register that is known as the Public Key. The decryption key is kept the secret that is known as Private Key.