III: Small: Ensuring Integrity and Authenticity of Outsourced Databases

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

Due to the complexity and cost associated with managing data, many organizations are looking towards outsourcing their data management services. In recent years especially, Cloud Computing has gained significant interest. Although data outsourcing holds great promise, it raises a number of security and privacy concerns. In particular, since the clients have little or no direct control over the software and hardware that is running at the servers, there is a reluctance to blindly trust the server. A server may sacrifice the quality of service for a client either intentionally or inadvertently. In addition, there is a concern about the fidelity of the service. Databases have precise semantics of operation which must be preserved by the outsourced database. There is a critical need to develop authentication mechanisms that allow a database to be operated (for querying and updates) at an outsourcing site while providing guarantees to the data owner regarding transactional consistency of the database. This project aims to make significant advances in the authentication of dynamic outsourced databases. The project will develop solutions that enable a data owner and authorized clients to ensure that the outsourced database represents exactly the state that corresponds to valid transactions that have been executed by the owner or clients. Comprehensive and efficient solutions that minimize the burden on the data owner, and the overhead on the outsourcing site for proving correct execution will be developed. For further information, see the project website http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/sunil/AuthenticDB