Hybrid Homomorphic Encryption: A Breakthrough in Data Privacy

2.2.2023 19:04

Researchers have recently introduced a new concept in the field of cryptography called Hybrid Homomorphic Encryption (HHE) that combines symmetric cryptography with homomorphic encryption (HE). HHE allows for local data encryption using a symmetric encryption scheme and outsourcing the encrypted data to the cloud, where it can be transformed into homomorphic ciphertexts without being decrypted.

HARPOCRATES scientists have presented at the Securecomm 2022 a new approach for privacy-respecting cloud services, enabled by moving the most expensive operations of HE to the cloud. As described in the publication ” Symmetrical Disguise: Realizing Homomorphic Encryption Services from Symmetric Primitives “, our researchers took on the task of designing a secure cryptographic protocol based on HHE, showing how it can be used as the main building block of a protocol that allows analysts to collect data from multiple sources and compute specific functions over them in a privacy-preserving way.

This open source development empowers the research community and industry in the field of cryptography to achieve efficient privacy in data storage and processing. By demonstrating how HHE can be utilized in realistic scenarios through the design of a secure protocol, HARPOCRATES researchers are pushing the boundaries of homomorphic encryption.

Full manuscript is available at the link: https://eprint.iacr.org/2022/848