# A Usable Encryption Solution for File-Based Geospatial Data within a Database File System
## 6 Discussion
### Main Benefits and Limitations  
Using a database for file storage and management furnishes several advantages that only a DBMS can offer. As such, this study explored the suitability of a DBFS for spatial file security in enterprise GIS as an alternative to the native filesystem. In doing so, we considered and addressed several challenges. The different scenarios in which spatial files are being used in enterprise GIS led to the design of single- and multi-user encryption-decryption schemes. Moreover, the usability against security conundrum has resulted in a scheme to carry these functions out automatically, hiding them from the users. Also, we propose schemes to address the challenges in an encryption solution implementation, namely, automation, user concurrency, and a protection scheme for preventing access to decrypted data. Finally, the security solution brings minimal changes to how users work with spatial files in enterprise GIS. Users only have to specify the files that need encryption-decryption. We have substantiated that using a DBFS for spatial file storage is slower than a native file system but better in terms of the overall security of spatial files in enterprise GIS. The main benefits and limitations of the proposed solution are as follows. Many GIS organisations are storing their datasets as sets of files and folders--this can be a more convenient way to share datasets within an organisation compared to a _DBMS_. The latest desktop GIS applications (such as _ESRI ArcGIS Pro_) do not address the security solution at all to work with spatial files and personal geodatabase workspaces. The existing security solutions for spatial datasets mentioned in Section 2 do not provide varied ways to store and use spatial datasets for organisations dealing with large spatial datasets. Existing solutions apply only to certain types of spatial data and are mainly concerned with encrypting spatial files without a usable encryption solution around them. To this end, the proposed solution for sensitive spatial files offers comprehensive multi-level security (authentication, encryption, and authorisation) together with an automated and usable encryption-decryption solution. In addition, there is no additional cost associated with using this approach. The DBFS product used in our investigation--_ECMSDK_--is available as an open-source product. Indeed, the underlying Oracle XE database we used has size limitations. Instead, the _PostGreSQL_ database can be used, and as such, no additional cost will be required to deploy the security solution. However, re-writing of all _Oracle PL/SQL_ scripts to _Postgre PL/pgSQL_ would be necessary. The main limitation of the proposed solution is that since DBFS adds a database layer between the GIS applications and the file system, more time is required when users work with spatial files: that is, opening, editing, and saving files [51,52]. Additional time is also required during file encryption and decryption. Both of these additional times, however, are a fair trade-off considering the spatial file management and security features offered by the proposed security solution. Another limitation is the elevated privileges of the DBFS and DBMS administrators, who both can access the files in the database once they have been decrypted during users' sessions. To protect against unwanted disclosure, organisations can limit granting these administrative account privileges to only trusted individuals. Consolidation does pose a _single point of failure_. However, while permitting storage of spatial files of different formats into a centralised repository, the DBFS prevents a single point of failure to a significant level by taking advantage of the availability, scalability, and security features of the underlying DBMS, with the further possibility of deploying multiple _DBFS nodes_[48]. These features are comparable with cloud-based file storage,and they extend current file systems, enabling GIS organisations to deploy a robust in-house file storage platform.