Encryption / Decryption of Cache

[suryavinaybetha]

Hey guys,

I'm pretty new to working on this application, so don't mind me being lost. I was wondering if we there is a way to encrypt all the cache that I'm saving so that all that data cannot be accessed directly from the file explorer. And also since we will be encrypting while storing the cache, there must be a way to decrypt it for Weasis to use it.

Similar to Auth Interceptors in React (I have some basic knowledge about it), could there be anything of such sort implemented? Intercepting the file reads so that the decryption can be done before using so and so file and also similarly intercepting the file writes into cache so that the encryption can be done before the file is saved.

[nroduit]

Currently, there is no persistence of patient data after closing the application. The cached data is only accessible during the active use of the application and exclusively by the current user. Given this, I don't see the need to handle cache encryption/decryption at this stage, as the data is not stored or accessible beyond the session.

[ugm6hr]

The security of cached data is something I need to confirm for my institution. My (hope and) intention is to allow users to install and use Weasis desktop on personal computers via VPN. Scenarios like Weasis or OS crashes will be reviewed - are there fallbacks for clearing cache in these situations where the application is not actively closed?

[nroduit]

Just to clarify the current behavior around cache cleanup:

We have a shutdown hook that attempts to clean up the cache when the application exits normally.
If the process is forcefully terminated (e.g., OS “End task”, SIGKILL, hard crash), that hook won’t run, so the cache won’t be cleaned.
On Windows specifically, deleting a very large number of files can be noticeably slow. If the closing/cleanup phase takes more than 15 seconds, the application will abort the shutdown, which can leave files undeleted.
Note that at every launch of Weasis the cache is cleaned first.