The big idea is to create a practically useful form of fully homomorphic encryption which allows encrypted data to be used without ever having to decrypt it.

While homomorphic encryption already exists and is usable, but it is incredibly impractical because it takes too much effort and time  even for simple operations.

The potential benefits of fully homomorphic encryption make creating a practical way to use it a cybersecurity imperative.

Intel said the biggest problem in data security as being caused by encryption techniques that require that data be decrypted for processing.

During the data’s decrypted state it can become more vulnerable for misuse.

The goal of the Data Protection in Virtual Environments program is to develop an accelerator for fully homomorphic encryption that will make it more practical and scalable, which is where Intel comes in. The chip manufacturer's role in the project will be academic research and the development of an application-specific integrated circuit that will accelerate fully homomorphic encryption processing.

Intel said that, when fully realised, its accelerator chip could reduce processing times by five orders of magnitude over existing CPU-driven fully homomorphic encryption systems.