Encrypting Data at Rest in MongoDB

Data at rest refers to inactive data stored physically in any digital form (e.g., databases, data warehouses). Encrypting data at rest is a crucial security measure to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.

• Encryption: The process of converting plaintext into ciphertext to prevent unauthorized access.
• Data at Rest: Data that is stored on a physical medium and not actively moving through the network.
• Encryption Keys: A piece of information used for encrypting and decrypting data.

MongoDB provides two primary methods for encrypting data at rest:

1. Using MongoDB Encrypted Storage Engine
2. Using Application-level Encryption

4.1 Using MongoDB Encrypted Storage Engine

To enable the Encrypted Storage Engine, you need to configure the following:

mongod --enableEncryption --encryptionKeyFile /path/to/keyfile

Make sure the key file has appropriate permissions:

chmod 400 /path/to/keyfile

4.2 Using Application-level Encryption

For application-level encryption, you can use MongoDB's drivers to encrypt data before inserting it into the database. For example, in Node.js:

const crypto = require('crypto');
const algorithm = 'aes-256-cbc';
const key = crypto.randomBytes(32);
const iv = crypto.randomBytes(16);

function encrypt(text) {
    let cipher = crypto.createCipheriv(algorithm, Buffer.from(key), iv);
    let encrypted = cipher.update(text);
    encrypted = Buffer.concat([encrypted, cipher.final()]);
    return { iv: iv.toString('hex'), encryptedData: encrypted.toString('hex') };
}

• Always use strong encryption algorithms (e.g., AES-256).
• Regularly rotate your encryption keys.
• Implement access controls to restrict who can manage encryption keys.
• Back up your encryption keys securely.
• Monitor and audit encrypted data access.