Transparent Ciphertext Retrieval System Supporting Integration of Encrypted Heterogeneous Database in Cloud-Assisted IoT

Abstract

Ciphertext retrieval under heterogeneous data sets is a critical concern in the cloud-assisted Internet of Things (IoT). Previous ciphertext retrieval schemes eliminate computation burden and security concerns to some extent, but cannot support the encrypted heterogeneous data sets. To solve this problem, in this article we propose a transparent ciphertext retrieval system regardless of programming language, accessible platforms, and heterogeneity of data sets. The retrieval system is a novel combination of the proposed access and integration middleware with a current encrypted cloud database system. The middleware enables cross-language and cross-platform queries over various database systems, besides, it schedules the designed data integration method in heterogeneous databases to realize cross-database queries over the encrypted cloud data sets. The proposed ciphertext retrieval system achieves efficient data sharing among different IoT applications with various database systems. We prove that the system guarantees data security by avoiding malicious hackers. Extensive experiments show that our design is efficient and feasible in practice.