← Back to glossary
🧠

Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE)

Encryption

Cryptographic scheme supporting arbitrary computation on ciphertexts with correct decrypted outputs.

Definition

Fully homomorphic encryption is a class of encryption schemes that enable evaluation of arbitrary functions over ciphertexts. The result decrypts to the same value as if the function had been applied to plaintext.

In plain English Cryptographic scheme supporting arbitrary computation on ciphertexts with correct decrypted outputs.

Why this matters

Why it matters: It enables privacy-preserving computation and analytics, but trade-offs include complexity and performance overhead.

Example

Example: Run encrypted inference or database queries on a server, returning ciphertext outputs only the client can decrypt.