Cassandra Data Encryption (Configuration of Transport and Storage Encryption)

Data encryption is a technology adopted to protect data security. It can encrypt data, ensuring that only authorized accessors can decrypt and use it. Cassandra is a distributed, fault-tolerant NoSQL database system that also supports multiple data encryption methods.

Transport Encryption

Transport encryption refers to encrypting data as it is transmitted to its destination to protect it from being read by unauthorized personnel. Cassandra uses the SSL/TLS protocol to provide symmetric and asymmetric encryption to ensure the security of data transmission.

  • Symmetric Encryption: Uses the same key pair (key) for both encryption and decryption.
  • Asymmetric Encryption: Uses a public key and a private key for encryption; the public key is used to verify signatures, and the private key is used for decryption.

Storage Encryption

Storage encryption refers to encrypting data when it is stored in the database to protect it from being read by unauthorized personnel. Cassandra supports multiple storage encryption methods:

  • Full-text Encryption: Encrypts data using the AES encryption algorithm.
  • Column-level Encryption: Encrypts specific columns (column).

Configuring Data Encryption

To configure data encryption in Cassandra, follow these steps:

1. Enable SSL/TLS protocol: Add the following line to the cassandra.ini file, ensuring that the keyserver and trusted_certificates related parameters are correct:

    ssl = true
    keyserver = < ssl.key.server >
     trusted_certificates = < ssl.trusted.certificates >

2. Specify encryption algorithm: Add the following line to the cassandra.ini file to specify the encryption algorithm you want to use:

    encryption = aes-256-cbc

3. Enable storage encryption: Add the data_format attribute to the data table in Cassandra and specify org.apache.cassandra.utils.AES256CBFKeyFormat as the value.

    CREATE TABLE test (key text PRIMARY KEY, data text) WITH options (
       compression = 'LZ4',
       data_format = 'AES256CBFKeyFormat'
    );

Checking Data Encryption

To check if data encryption is enabled in Cassandra, use the following steps:

1. Start cassandra: Start the Cassandra service and wait for it to become available.

2. Connect to Cassandra: Connect to Cassandra using tools such as cql or nodetool.

3. Execute queries: Use CQL commands to access the data and check if it is encrypted.

In this case, the data will be encrypted, and only authorized accessors can decrypt it.