Cryptography

EscoDB is a document store designed to keep its contents private. It achieves this via two key features: it lets the user choose where its contents are physically stored, and it encrypts everything input by the user, including document IDs (referred to as paths in the API).

It also aims to protect stored data from certain forms of tampering. While encryption prevents an attacker from being able to read the contents of your files, tamper resistance means they cannot deface data in certain ways, even if they are unable to decrypt it. They key thing that EscoDB prevents is the ability to move encrypted records inside a file so that a document becomes readable via a different ID than the one it was written to. This is achieved by appropriate use of authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD).

EscoDB cannot protect you from arbitrary changes to its data files, including partial or total deletion of their content. You should still use appropriate measures to prevent unauthorised access to data in transit and at rest, and you should back up your data in case it is lost by the primary storage system.

The following pages describe how EscoDB uses cryptography in the data it stores, including why certain choices have been made.