Modern 'primitive' could ease the pain of encrypting massive amounts of data

Researchers have devised an encryption scheme that could simplify the protection of sensitive information by allowing banks, hospitals, and other organizations to lock files using keys that are based on specific attributes, such as an employee's position or geographic location.

The method, which was unveiled last week, adds to the growing body of research known as functional or attribute-based encryption.

Functional encryption tries to simplify things. It allows data to be encrypted using attributes directly tied to the recipients, such as their names or email addresses, without the need for the parties to have exchanged keys ahead of time.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/23/research_simplifies_encryption/

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