New Technique Eases Encryption for Databases

Shocking the encryption market is not easy to do, but officials at Voltage Security must hope their new approach to encryption will do exactly that.

The company's flagship SecureData product uses a cryptographic technique Voltage Security calls Format-Preserving Encryption. SecureData was first released to the public in fall of 2007, though the company waited until now to speak about it publicly.

The overall aim of the approach is to ease the process of encrypting databases. Unlike traditional algorithms that expand data into binary fields, Format-Preserving Encryption, or FPE, allows encrypted data to keep its original format on a character-by-character basis, so that the data fits in existing fields and there is no need for database schema changes. It also preserves referential integrity, which enables encryption of foreign and indexed keys and ensures internal consistency in masked data, company officials said.