Cryptographic relational algebra for databases using the field authenticator

In this paper, a field authentication scheme, suitable for providing more efficient operations within an encrypted database, is introduced and discussed. Applying the concept of this proposed scheme, the database will be safeguarded and protected for situations such as a ciphertext search attack, a plaintext substitution attack, and/or a ciphertext substitution attack. In addition, this proposed scheme can be used to facilitate the "projections" operation executed in the database while also allowing the individual field value to be decrypted and authenticated. It is also important to note that the "selection" operation can be directly applied to the resultant database without the tediousness of going through the decryption process by using the random filters concept in the field authentication. Furthermore, the use of the aforementioned concept can eliminate exposure of some unqualified records and, as a result, speed up the process of executing the query. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.