CompTIA SecurityX (CAS-005)Security ArchitectureHard
A security architect is designing a data processing pipeline for a machine learning platform that handles highly sensitive medical research data. The platform needs to perform analytical computations on this encrypted data in the cloud without ever decrypting it, to maintain maximum confidentiality even from the cloud provider. Which advanced cryptographic technique is required to achieve this specific goal?
- AHomomorphic Encryption
- BSymmetric Encryption
- CHashing
- DAsymmetric Encryption
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Homomorphic Encryption
Homomorphic encryption is a unique cryptographic method that allows computations to be performed directly on encrypted data without decrypting it first. This is precisely what is needed to process sensitive medical research data in the cloud while maintaining its confidentiality from the cloud provider.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Symmetric encryption encrypts and decrypts data using the same key; it does not allow computations on encrypted data.
- C. Hashing produces a fixed-size string of characters from input data, used for integrity checks or password storage, not for encrypting data or performing computations on it.
- D. Asymmetric encryption uses a public and private key pair for encryption and decryption or digital signatures; it also does not enable computations on encrypted data.
Homomorphic Encryption (HE)
Homomorphic Encryption (HE) is a form of encryption that allows computations to be performed on encrypted data without requiring decryption. The result of the computation remains encrypted and, when decrypted, is identical to the result of performing the same computation on the plaintext data.
- Enables computation on encrypted data without decryption.
- Preserves data confidentiality during processing in untrusted environments.
- Can be fully homomorphic (FHE) or partially homomorphic (PHE).
- Computationally intensive, but increasingly practical for specific use cases.
Memory trick: Homomorphic Hides Operations on Medical Encrypted Data.