Searchable Encryption
Searchable encryption allows search queries to run directly on encrypted data, retrieving matching documents without decryption, preserving confidentiality while keeping searchability.
Purpose
It enables retrieval over encrypted data in cloud storage, where the server learns nothing about the content yet can return matching results.
Mechanism
Symmetric searchable encryption (SSE) generates a search token per keyword, and the server locates encrypted documents with the token; asymmetric PEKS encrypts keywords under a public key and generates search traps with trapdoor keys. The security goal is minimal leakage of search and access patterns.
Use cases
- Encrypted cloud document retrieval
- Encrypted email search
- Encrypted database queries