Fortanix, a California-based cybersecurity company, unveiled its latest feature, Confidential Data Search, designed to address the challenge of utilizing sensitive data for business operations while ensuring privacy and compliance. This innovative software tool enables fast and unlimited searches of encrypted data, catering to the needs of highly regulated industries like finance and healthcare.
The official launch of Confidential Data Search took place at the 2023 Confidential Computing Summit in San Francisco, where Fortanix showcased the product’s capabilities. The company plans to make the tool generally available in the latter half of 2023. The timing of this release aligns with the growing demand for robust data protection measures and adherence to stringent privacy regulations.
Richard Searle, VP of confidential computing at Fortanix, emphasized the practicality and real-world benefits of Confidential Data Search. He highlighted how the solution solves significant business challenges faced by banks and organizations today, offering them a viable option for leveraging confidential computing to safeguard data.
Confidential Data Search leverages the concept of confidential computing, a field focused on performing complex operations on encrypted data without the need for decryption. Fortanix employs Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) to host encrypted databases securely. By deploying an image of the encrypted database within the TEE, data can be decrypted and utilized for queries while remaining inaccessible to external systems. Additionally, the queries themselves are encrypted, ensuring the protection of analysts’ identities.
Searle emphasized that Confidential Data Search integrates seamlessly with existing databases and datasets without requiring modifications or data format conversions. He mentioned Fortanix’s Data Security Manager, which facilitates transparent data encryption for popular enterprise databases like PostgreSQL and MySQL. This functionality can be implemented within the confidential computing environment without any alterations. Fortanix has already established numerous integrations with leading organizations such as Snowflake and Databricks and is exploring potential partnerships with major cloud providers.
Looking ahead, Searle discussed the role of Fortanix in shaping the future of confidential computing, particularly in emerging technology areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Fortanix plans to introduce fine-grained policy controls and support for large language models in the near future. Additionally, the company is actively involved in edge AI deployment, aiming to position confidential computing as a crucial strategy not only at the data center level but also at the edge.
According to a market study by Everest Group, the Confidential Computing market is expected to grow significantly, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 90%-95% and an estimated value of $54 billion by 2026. The study attributes this growth to the increasing demand for data security and privacy in regulated sectors such as finance, banking, insurance, healthcare, life sciences, and the public sector.
Fortanix claims that its solution stands out from other encrypted data storage offerings, particularly in terms of performance and scalability. Searle notes that alternative solutions rely on methods like homomorphic encryption, which are impractical for handling complex data sets, or process data in plain text with permission controls, making them vulnerable to breaches.
With over $135.5 million in funding from investors including Goldman Sachs Asset Management, GiantLeap Capital, Foundation Capital, Intel Capital, Neotribe Ventures, and In-Q-Tel, Fortanix has gained traction across various industries, including highly regulated sectors. The company actively contributes to the advancement of the confidential computing ecosystem and is a founding member of the Confidential Computing Consortium, an initiative by the Linux Foundation that aims to accelerate the adoption of confidential computing technologies.
By leveraging confidential computing technology, Fortanix aims to provide organizations with a fast and scalable solution for securely searching and analyzing encrypted data while adhering to global regulations and policies. This unique offering positions Fortanix favorably compared to other players in the market, including Microsoft, IBM, and Google, who are also developing their own confidential computing solutions. Fortanix’s vision of simplifying and democratizing data security takes a significant step forward with the introduction of Confidential Data Search.
