Homomorphic Encryption
What is Homomorphic Encryption?
Homomorphic EncryptionAn encryption scheme that allows computations to be performed directly on ciphertexts, producing encrypted results that match the operations on the underlying plaintexts.
Homomorphic Encryption (HE) is a form of public-key cryptography that supports arithmetic operations on ciphertexts without decryption: decrypting the result yields the same answer as performing the operation on the plaintext. Partially Homomorphic schemes (RSA, ElGamal, Paillier) support a single operation, Somewhat Homomorphic schemes a bounded depth of operations, and Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) — pioneered by Gentry in 2009 and now implemented in BFV, BGV, CKKS and TFHE on top of the Ring-LWE problem — supports arbitrary depth via bootstrapping. HE enables privacy-preserving cloud computation, private machine-learning inference, encrypted database queries and secure multiparty computation, but is several orders of magnitude slower and more memory-intensive than plaintext computation, with ongoing research and standardization (HomomorphicEncryption.org, ISO/IEC) reducing the cost.
● Examples
- 01
Microsoft SEAL implements BFV and CKKS for encrypted analytics on cloud data.
- 02
Zama's TFHE-rs is used to evaluate machine-learning models directly on encrypted inputs.
● Frequently asked questions
What is Homomorphic Encryption?
An encryption scheme that allows computations to be performed directly on ciphertexts, producing encrypted results that match the operations on the underlying plaintexts. It belongs to the Cryptography category of cybersecurity.
What does Homomorphic Encryption mean?
An encryption scheme that allows computations to be performed directly on ciphertexts, producing encrypted results that match the operations on the underlying plaintexts.
How do you defend against Homomorphic Encryption?
Defences for Homomorphic Encryption typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.
What are other names for Homomorphic Encryption?
Common alternative names include: FHE, Fully Homomorphic Encryption.