Column-level encryption

You can use column-level encryption to store sensitive data in an encrypted format. After encrypting sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, only users who can provide a secret password can decrypt the data.

Use the built-in ENCRYPT_AES() and ENCRYPT_TDES() encryption functions to encrypt data in columns containing the following character data types or smart large object data types:

  • CHAR
  • NCHAR
  • VARCHAR
  • NVARCHAR
  • LVARCHAR
  • BLOB
  • CLOB

You can also use the SET ENCRYPTION PASSWORD statement to set an encryption password for a session. If you do this, only users who can provide a secret password can view, copy, or modify encrypted data.

The built-in ENCRYPT_AES(), ENCRYPT_TDES(), DECRYPT_CHAR(), and DECRYPT_BINARY() encryption and decryption functions can use the session-level password if the password is not explicitly specified in the encryption or decryption function. If you use the SET ENCRYPTION PASSWORD statement, you are not required to provide the same password in every encryption or decryption function.

After Informix® prepares a statement that contains a password (and, optionally, a hint), Informix® keeps the password and hint in shared memory in an encrypted format. Informix® only decrypts a copy of the password or hint when any statement related to encryption is being executed. Informix® uses a randomly generated session key to encrypt the password and hint in memory. This means that if the server fails with an AF (assertion failure) error, or if the shared memory is paged out of main memory, it is hard to find plain text passwords in the core dump. Informix® never writes a password to disk. It records hints with the encrypted data, but they are lightly encrypted and not readily understood.

When you set encryption passwords for column data, you can specify these types of encryption:

  • Column-level encryption. All values in a specific column of a database table are encrypted with the same password (word or phrase), the same encryption algorithm, and the same cipher mode. For column-level encryption, you can store the hint outside the encrypted column, rather than repeating it in every row.
    Tip: If encryption functions are not used, users can enter unencrypted data into columns that are meant to contain encrypted data. To ensure that data entered into a field is always encrypted, use views and INSTEAD OF triggers.
  • Cell-level encryption (also called row-column or set-column level encryption). Within a column of encrypted data, many different passwords, encryption algorithms, or modes are used. This type of encryption might be necessary to protect personal data.

Passwords and hints that you declare with SET ENCRYPTION PASSWORD are not stored as plain text in any table of the system catalog. To prevent other users from accessing the plain text of encrypted data or of a password, you must avoid actions that might compromise the secrecy of a password:

  • Unless your database is accessible only by a secure network, you must enable the Encryption Communication Support Module (ENCCSM) to protect data transmission between the database server and any client system.
  • Do not index encrypted columns and do not create a functional index on a decrypted column. This would store plain-text data in the database, defeating the purpose of encryption.
  • Do not store passwords in a trigger or in a user-defined routine (UDR) that exposes the password to the public. Use the session password before you activate the trigger, invoke the UDR, or pass any password as a parameter to a UDR.

When you set a password, the database server transfers the password and any hint to a 128-bit key that is used to encrypt the password and hint. Passwords and hints are not stored as clear text. The key is a time-based random value per instance. The database server starts the key when the server starts; the key is deleted when the database server shuts down.

Although it is possible to store both encrypted and unencrypted data in a single column, your application must determine which rows contain encrypted data and which rows contain unencrypted data. In addition, the application must provide for using the correct code to handle the difference, because the built-in decryption functions fail if they are applied to unencrypted data. The simplest way to avoid this error is for all rows to use encryption in a column where any row is encrypted. For more information, see the Informix® Guide to SQL: Syntax.

A query for encrypted data must specify an unencrypted column on which to select the rows. For information about queries, syntax, and reusing encrypted data, see the Informix® Guide to SQL: Syntax.

An encrypted value uses more storage space in a column than the corresponding plain text value. This occurs because all of the information required to decrypt the value, except the encryption key, is stored with the value. Therefore, embedding zero bytes in the encrypted result is not recommended.

The database server includes an Encrypt Virtual Processor. If the encrypt option of the VPCLASS parameter is not defined in the onconfig file, the database server starts one Encrypt VP the first time that any encryption or decryption functions defined for column-level encryption are called. You can define multiple Encrypt VPs if necessary to decrease the time required to start the database server. For more information, the configuration parameters chapter in the Informix® Administrator's Reference.

When the database server is in online mode, you can use the onmode -p command to add or drop Encrypt VPs. For example, to add four more Encrypt VPs, use: 
onmode -p 4 encrypt
To drop three Encrypt VPs, use: 
onmode -p -3 encrypt

For more information, see the onmode utility chapter in the Informix® Administrator's Reference.