Searching in encrypted columns using PostgreSql with EF Core

Question

I have a table with some encrypted columns and I want to search those columns using LIKE / ILIKE operators. However, I have achieved exact searching but I'm unable to do pattern matching.

NOTE: I am using server side encryption/decryption using value converters.

I am open for any solution as I have to implement this in anyway.

Thanks

Answer 1

This is fundamentally impossible. If the database does not contain clear text data, you cannot perform anything else but an equality search inside the database. You will have to perform pattern matching inside the application where you have the clear text values. Such is the price of security.