Data Encryption in the Cloud Questions and Answers for Viva

Answer-1: Data encryption in the cloud is the process of encoding data stored or transmitted in cloud environments to prevent unauthorized access.

Answer-2: Encryption protects sensitive cloud data from unauthorized access and ensures data confidentiality and privacy.

Answer-3: Data-at-rest encryption and data-in-transit encryption.

Answer-4: Encrypting data stored on disk or cloud storage to protect it from physical or logical breaches.

Answer-5: Encrypting data while it moves across networks to protect it from interception.

Answer-6: AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), RSA, and TLS/SSL.

Answer-7: AES is a symmetric encryption algorithm widely used to secure data due to its efficiency and strength.

Answer-8: Symmetric encryption uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt data, while asymmetric uses a public/private key pair.

Answer-9: PKI is a framework for managing digital certificates and public-private key encryption to secure communications.

Answer-10: Through dedicated Key Management Services (KMS) that securely create, store, and manage encryption keys.

Answer-11: CMEK allows customers to control and manage their encryption keys rather than relying on the cloud provider.

Answer-12: Encryption performed by the cloud provider on data before it is saved to disk.

Answer-13: Data is encrypted by the client before it is uploaded to the cloud, ensuring only the client holds the keys.

Answer-14: Many regulations require encryption of sensitive data to protect privacy and prevent breaches.

Answer-15: Transport Layer Security (TLS) encrypts data during transmission between clients and cloud services.

Answer-16: Encryption is reversible with a key; hashing is a one-way process producing a fixed output.

Answer-17: Improper key management can lead to unauthorized access even if data is encrypted.

Answer-18: Physical devices that provide secure key storage and cryptographic operations.

Answer-19: Typically no, but techniques like homomorphic encryption and searchable encryption aim to enable this.

Answer-20: Data is encrypted on the sender's side and only decrypted by the recipient, preventing cloud provider access.

Answer-21: By limiting access, using HSMs, auditing key usage, and rotating keys regularly.

Answer-22: Regularly changing encryption keys to limit the damage if keys are compromised.

Answer-23: A function that converts input data into a fixed-size string of characters, which acts as a fingerprint.

Answer-24: Encryption can add computational overhead but modern systems optimize to minimize impact.

Answer-25: TDE automatically encrypts databases at rest without application changes.

Answer-26: Encryption isolates tenant data, preventing unauthorized access from other tenants.

Answer-27: Encrypting data with a data key, which is itself encrypted with a master key for enhanced security.

Answer-28: Loss of keys can make encrypted data permanently inaccessible.

Answer-29: Deterministic produces the same ciphertext for identical plaintext; randomized adds randomness for stronger security.

Answer-30: Using cryptographic checksums or digital signatures to verify data hasn't been altered.

Answer-31: Quantum computing may break some encryption algorithms, prompting the development of post-quantum cryptography.

Answer-32: Allows computation on encrypted data without decrypting it, preserving confidentiality.

Answer-33: It increases security but can limit cloud provider features like search or indexing.

Answer-34: Key management, performance overhead, compliance complexities, and user access control.

Answer-35: Encryption scrambles data; tokenization replaces sensitive data with non-sensitive tokens.

Answer-36: By offering encryption options, auditing, certifications, and compliance reports.

Answer-37: The cloud provider cannot access encryption keys or decrypted data, ensuring full client control.

Answer-38: By restricting data access to authorized users and protecting against unauthorized breaches.

Answer-39: AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, and Google Cloud KMS.

Answer-40: Backups should also be encrypted to maintain data security.

Answer-41: A number used once to ensure that encryption output is unique and prevent replay attacks.

Answer-42: Using TLS/SSL to secure API calls and data exchanges.

Answer-43: No, encryption is vital but must be combined with access control and monitoring.

Answer-44: Encryption can add costs due to processing and key management services.

Answer-45: By reviewing configuration, using auditing tools, and compliance reports.

Answer-46: A set of algorithms that help secure network connections, including encryption, key exchange, and authentication.

Answer-47: By implementing encryption gateways or updating apps to support cloud encryption.

Answer-48: A secure storage method where keys are held by a trusted third party for recovery purposes.

Answer-49: Private clouds offer more control; public clouds depend more on provider encryption standards.

Answer-50: Advances in post-quantum cryptography, automated key management, and increased use of homomorphic encryption.