Different search strategies on encrypted data compared

When private information is stored in databases that are under the control of others, the only possible way to protect it, is to encrypt it before storing it. In order to efficiently retrieve the data, a search mechanism is needed that still works over the encrypted data. In this chapter an overview of several search strategies is given. Some add meta-data to the database and do the searching only in the meta-data, others search in the data itself or use secret sharing to solve the problem. Each strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages.