Cryptographic Data Integrity

Cryptographic Data Integrity is the use of cryptographic methods to make it verifiable whether data has been changed since a defined point in time. Typical mechanisms are cryptographic hash values, message authentication codes or digital signatures. Even small changes to the data content lead to a different check result and can thus be detected.

In the backup context, such methods can be used to check backup blocks, files or metadata against unintentional damage and unnoticed manipulation. It is important that the verification information itself is protected and generated traceably. Cryptographic integrity does not automatically confirm that a backup is correct in business terms or free of malware; above all, it proves changes compared with a known reference value.

Cryptographic data integrity thus complements structured Data Management and supports a verifiable security and governance structure. For larger data volumes, hierarchical hash structures such as Merkle trees can make verification more efficient.