Field Encryption

[ashstampede]

in mysql you can go simply md5('stuff') or sha1('stuff') for those types of encryption. does ms sql have a function like those in mysql? I heard of the undocument pwdencrypt and pwdcompare, i've tried using that but can't get the pwdcompare to work. Any suggestion on how i can encrypt data in a feild?

 

[ashstampede]

My apoligies, about 2 minutes after posting this i then thought why not do it in the application level. so i will, thanks

 

[mrdenny]

SQL Server does support encryption (both md5 and sha1) however you have to add some dlls to the SQL Server to add this in. It doesn't come out of the box. md5 is free (google for it, or check the forums, I've posted the URL a few times), sha1 is a few bucks for the dll, but they have a free version that you can test with.

Never use pwdencrypt and pwdcompare for anything. The alagrams used in these procedures are changed between different versions of SQL Server. So if you are using these and upgrade from SQL 7 to 2000 for example, everything that was encrypted will fail on the pwdcompare.

I'll write an FAQ for encryption shortly and post it to the forums with the links to get the DLLs since it seams to be a hot topic.

Denny

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)