Database encryption is a process in which the data stored in the database are converted from plaintext (PT) to ciphertext (CT). The original data can be retrieved from the ciphertext with the help of a predefined key and a decryption scheme. This way, only the appropriate authority that has the key can access the data. Thus, encrypted databases help ensure data confidentiality and avoid data leaks. In this paper, we will describe a modification to the Secure K-Nearest Neighbours (SkNN) [3] technique to construct an encrypted database system. We briefly discuss some of the existing encryption models and the principles involved in their construction and look at some of the issues that plague these models. The motivation behind this paper is to devise a method that allows for strong database encryption, while at the same time facilitating efficient search over the encrypted data. In order to achieve this, we suggest an approach which combines RSA with the SkNN scheme. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.