Securing Queries to Outsourced XML Databases

The security concerns with outsourcing XML databases are well known. In the past few years researchers have proposed solutions to many of the concerns in the current outsourced database model. However one area remains relatively untouched, the securing of queries to outsourced XML databases. Most current research fails to even specify how the user will actually query the outsourced data. Therefore this paper proposes a new outsourced database model that allows for data and query confidentiality and data privacy. It also defines a structure for how the user will query the outsourced data. An access control method is also proposed to ensure data privacy in the proposed model. Through experimentation, it was found that the access control algorithm is a viable option for data privacy in the proposed outsourced XML database model. With a combination of the access control algorithm and the proposed data flow specified, the proposed model allows for queries to be secure from interception and modification from start to finish.