Partial ciphertext updates using variable-length segments delineated by pattern matching and encrypted by fixed-length blocks

Abstract

A re-encryptor compares hashed digests of updated segments and original segments to located changed segments that must be re-encrypted. A new initialization vector is input to a block cipher engine for each changed segment. Since only changed segments need to be re-encrypted, transmission bandwidth to remote encrypted storage may be reduced. The amount of cipher text that is changed by a single update is reduced to a segment. Segments have a variable length and are bound by bits matching a segment delimiter. Each segment may have many fixed-length blocks that are encrypted by the block cipher engine with the same initialization vector for that segment. The segment delimiter is a randomly-generated word that is included with the initialization vectors in the metadata. Variable-length segments limit update disruption of the cipher text while fixed-length blocks are more efficiently encrypted. Combining segments and blocks provides for better re-encryption of updates.