Data Encryption Patterns

What it is

A set of patterns for protecting data confidentiality through encryption across all states: at rest, in transit, and in processing.

Encryption at Rest

• Database encryption (TDE - Transparent Data Encryption)
• File system and volume encryption
• Application-level field encryption
• Cloud storage encryption with customer-managed keys

Encryption in Transit

• TLS/SSL for HTTP and API communications
• Message queue encryption (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
• Database connection encryption
• VPN and network-level encryption

Key Management

• Hardware Security Modules (HSM) for key storage
• Key rotation and lifecycle management
• Envelope encryption for scalable key management
• Key escrow and recovery procedures

Advanced Patterns

• Format-preserving encryption for legacy systems
• Homomorphic encryption for computation on encrypted data
• Searchable encryption for encrypted databases
• Client-side encryption with zero-knowledge architecture

When to use

• Handling sensitive personal or financial data
• Regulatory compliance (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS)
• Zero-trust security architectures
• Multi-tenant environments requiring data isolation