Project description
Innovative solution for secure cloud-based healthcare services
The increasing use of cloud-based healthcare services is throwing the spotlight on risks related to patient privacy. These are risks that advances in cryptography can address. The EU-funded ASCLEPIOS project will increase and strengthen users’ trust in cloud-based health services, securing the maintenance of corporate and personal sensitive data. The solution will use novel cryptographic methods to establish a cloud-based eHealth structure that preserves users’ privacy and prevents internal and external attacks. ASCLEPIOS will allow users to control the integrity of their medical devices before using them and receive certain guarantees about the reliability of the cloud service provider. It will also allow healthcare professionals and medical researchers to calculate medical data statistics in a privacy-protecting way.
Objective
The vision of ASCLEPIOS is to maximize and fortify the trust of users on cloud-based healthcare services by developing mechanisms for protecting both corporate and personal sensitive data. The core idea of the project is derived from two observations. The first is based on an extensive analysis of the market on currently available cloud-based health services that aim to preserve users’ privacy without sacrificing functionality. From this study, we observed the following: “Once data is placed on the cloud in an unencrypted form or encrypted with a key that is known to the cloud service provider, data privacy becomes an illusion”. The second observation is based on the consideration of the latest advancements in cryptography. More precisely, one of the saddest but at the same time most fascinating things about cryptography is how little cryptography we actually use. While researchers have developed many theoretical models that could enhance the security level of healthcare services, only a rudimentary set of techniques are currently in use. ASCLEPIOS is addressing these limitations by utilizing several modern cryptographic approaches to build a cloud-based eHealth framework that protects users’ privacy and prevents both internal and external attacks. ASCLEPIOS also offers the ability to users to verify the integrity of their medical devices prior using them while at the same time receiving certain guarantees about the trustworthiness of their cloud service provider. Furthermore, ASCLEPIOS offers a novel solution through which healthcare practitioners and medical researchers are able to calculate statistics on medical data in a privacy-preserving way. Finally, a list of activities with the aim to raise security awareness within the healthcare industry will be organized by project. All these results will be showcased by three real-life near production quality demonstrators provided by ASCLEPIOS healthcare partners, involving three leading European hospitals.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
W1B 2UW London
United Kingdom