METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCRYPTING/DECRYPTING DATA

摘要

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for encrypting data (105) by means of a first key (115), and a method and apparatus for decrypting encrypted data by means of a second key (185). The present invention alleviates the need for exact key information by allowing encryption of data (105) by means of a first key (115) and subsequent decryption of the encrypted data by means of a second key (185) without the need for the first key (115), provided that the first key (115) and the second key (185) form a sufficient estimate of an encryption/decryption key pair. During encryption, multiple encryption keys (135), at least in part based on the first key (115), are used to encrypt a redundant representation (122) of the data (105). The encrypted data (124) may subsequently be decrypted by using multiple decryption keys (165) based on the second key (185), without the need for the first key (115), provided that the second key (185) forms a sufficient estimate of the first key (115).