Slice-level keyed encryption with support for efficient rekeying

摘要

A method begins by determining an encryption change regarding one or more sets of encrypted encoded data slices stored in storage units of a dispersed storage network (DSN). The method continues by updating an encryption file to include information regarding one or more of level of encryption, new encryption keys, new encryption key identifiers, and previous encryption file information. The method continues by dispersed storage error encoding the updated encryption file to produce a set of encoded encryption file slices (EEFSs) and outputting the set of EEFSs to a set of storage units of the DSN. The method continues by retrieving EEFSs from the set of storage units, recovering the updated encryption file from the EEFSs. The method continues by re-encrypting the encrypted encoded data slice based on the new encryption key to produce a re-encrypted encoded data slice and storing the re-encrypted encoded data slice in the storage units.