# A Usable Encryption Solution for File-Based Geospatial Data within a Database File System
## 2 Security and Usability Concerns for Spatial Files within Enterprise GIS
While this approach protects geospatial files when shared outside the GIS organisation, more needs to be done to consolidate and protect geospatial file-based data within the organisation. Another approach is by [PERSON] et al. [46], for which spatial files are encrypted before storage on a decentralised file system, namely the _Inter Planetary File System_ (IPFS). However, common GIS applications _cannot_ be integrated to use IPFS, since it is not a shared server platform where multiple users can have both read and write access to shared folders. Therefore, a security solution is needed that can be deployed _on-premise_ within the enterprise and is _usable_ with various commonly used GIS applications. Once its security is guaranteed, this model could be applied to distributed file systems such as IPFS. Not long ago, commercial DBMS vendors began offering file system products that enable users to easily store and access files within the database. _Database File System_ (DBFS) products such as the IBM DB2 Content Manager [47] and the Oracle Content Management Standard Development Kit (CMSDK) [48] use the database to store OS files, replacing many complex tasks usually performed by an OS. This innovative architecture for the first time opens up several opportunities for spatial files that are not currently available with traditional file systems. It raises the possibility for any spatial file to be _created, reviewed, corrected, approved_, and finally _published_, with appropriate access restrictions for user groups or simple users of the DBMS [48]. At the same time, the bundled protocol servers (for example, those with the CMSDK) allow the DBFS users to access and work with spatial files using the most commonly used GIS protocol services [48]. By using the DBFS, the spatial organisation can be confident that content is secure and accessible from a central location. Geospatial researchers have previously highlighted these advantages while proposing CMSDK for spatial file storage within Web GIS [49]. We are continuing in that line of investigation by investigating a usable encryption solution built around the DBFS for spatial end users. Note that Oracle released the product as open source in 2014 [50], and it is now known as the _Enterprise Content Management Standard Development Kit_ (ECMSDK). The product is available from www.ecmsdk.com (accessed on 18 April 2024) and has been used for all investigations in this study. The product mounts an additional logical drive on the computer, and files placed on this drive are stored in the Oracle database. Adding a database layer on top of the OS file system may affect the performance of file retrieval, storage, and editing. However, such a facility built on a relational DBMS model can facilitate the critical storage requirements for spatial files, whereas traditional file systems cannot. Moreover, DBMSs provide a robust enterprise solution as they are actually more scalable than file systems [48], support an enormous amount of data, perform reasonably well under severe loads in a multi-user environment, and provide database clustering and standby database features. This can be a storage infrastructure solution that spatial file _management_ and _security_ currently require today when spatial file content is beginning to be managed in so many diverse ways. Storing OS files within a database can be overkill--something that may have impacted the uptake of DBFSs since their inception. In this regard, geospatial researchers have previously investigated the feasibility of using a DBFS for spatial file storage, management,and security. [PERSON] et al. [51, 52] investigated the performance of _input_, _retrieval_, and _updating_ spatial files using MapInfo software and found a difference of about 1-2 s for processing spatial files (with sizes up to 100 MB) by using CMSDK storage compared to the native Windows filesystem. Further _encryption_ for spatial files within the DBFS presented reasonable times for small-sized spatial files using traditional algorithms.