[http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/12/cryptdb.jpg](http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/mits-got-a-way-of-using-encrypted-data-without-decrypting-it-n/)
Excepting [Jersey Shore](http://www.engadget.com/tag/jersey%20shore) participants, people generally value privacy and it's a bigger issue when so much data is stored online. Ethical data controllers will keep it encrypted, but much like leaving food in a fridge, you have to take it out if you wanna use it, which is when it's most at risk. A team from [MIT](http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/12/inefficient-mits-new-chip-software-doesnt-know-the-meaning-of/), thinks it's found a solution: a database that allows you to ask it questions without taking it out of the fridge... wait, what? CryptDB works by turning data into "homomorphic" information: strings of numbers, which you can then calculate against one another to get the answers you require. The *frankensoftware *is comprised of other encryption services, layered like an onion -- but capable of switching between processes instantly. The project was funded by [Google](http://www.engadget.com/tag/Google/) and [Citigroup](http://www.engadget.com/tag/citigroup/) and has been so successful that [DARPA](http://www.engadget.com/tag/darpa/) might be rolling some tanks up Massachusetts Avenue to offer the team a $20 million bounty. Head on down to our source link to read the paper that's so complex it made our eyes go cross-eyed.
Continue reading MIT’s got a way of using encrypted data without decrypting it, next stop, traveling without moving
MIT’s got a way of using encrypted data without decrypting it, next stop, traveling without moving originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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