Re: Blobs in Postgresql

On 8/18/07, Ron Olson <tachoknight(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> The language is Java. I've made some tests and they work very well for 25meg
> files....works exactly the way it should, first time. MySQL had all kinds of
> nasty surprises for me when I first started working with blobs, but I can
> say that I took my code, changed the driver, and it all works like a champ
> (mind you, this was a quick test app).
>
> I haven't looked at encryption at the database level....is such a thing
> available? I know Oracle has some form of data encryption at the database
> level so the nefarious DBA with the wide mustache and black brimmed hat
> always going "ah ha ha ha ha" can't make off with the data, but does
> Postgres have something similar?
>
> BTW, to put into context, the database will be designed to hold evidence
> (well, photos and videos of). Thus the compelling need for some security, as
> well as the variation in file sizes.

Well, my assumption was that you would encrypt the data on the client
side and store it that way.

PostgreSQL has open architecture. If you wanted to do the encryption
on the server, one possible approach that jumps out at me is to write
a small C function which receives the data, encrypts the image using a
key sent by the client all (but not stored), and either stores the
encrypted image back in the database via SPI or writes it out to a
file.

There are many strategies to encrypting data...first thing to think
about is where the encryption happens, where the keys are stored, etc.

merlin