  In recent years, cloud database storage has become an inexpensive and
convenient option for businesses and individuals to store information. While
its positive aspects make the cloud extremely attractive for data storage, it
is a relatively new area of service, making it vulnerable to cyber-attacks and
security breaches. Storing data in a foreign location also requires the owner
to relinquish control of their information to system administrators of these
online database services. This opens the possibility for malicious, internal
attacks on the data that may involve the manipulation, omission, or addition of
data. The retention of the data as it was intended to be stored is referred to
as the database's integrity. Our research tests a potential solution for
maintaining the integrity of these cloud-storage databases by converting the
original databases to Integrity Coded Databases (ICDB). ICDBs utilize Integrity
Codes: cryptographic codes created alongside the data by a private key that
only the data owner has access to. When the database is queried, an integrity
code is returned along with the queried information. The owner is then able to
verify that the information is correct, complete, and fresh. Consequently,
ICDBs also incur performance and memory penalties. In our research, we explore,
test, and benchmark ICDBs to determine the costs and benefits of maintaining an
ICDB versus a standard database.
