Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Implementing Transparent Data Encryption

Like many encryption scenarios, TDE is dependent on an encryption key. The TDE database encryption key is a symmetric key that secures the encrypted database. The DEK is protected using a certificate stored in the master database of the SQL Server instance where the encrypted database is installed.

Implementing TDE for a specific database is accomplished by following these steps:

Create a master key.

Create or obtain a certificate protected by the master key.

Create a database encryption key and protect ...