User Guide

Encrypt 579
Usage
This function uses a symmetric key-based algorithm, in which the same key is used to encrypt
and decrypt a string. The security of the encrypted string depends on maintaining the secrecy of
the key.
For all algorithms except the default algorithm, ColdFusion MX 7 uses the Java Cryptography
Extension (JCE) and installs a Sun Java 1.4.2 runtime that includes the Sun JCE default security
provider. This provider includes the algorithms listed in the Parameters section. The JCE
framework includes facilities for using other provider implementations; however, Macromedia
cannot provide technical support for third-party security providers.
The default algorithm, which is the same as was used in ColdFusion 5 and ColdFusion MX, uses
an XOR-based algorithm that uses a pseudo-random 32-bit key, based on a seed passed by the
user as a function parameter. This algorithm is less secure than the other available algorithms.
Example
The following example encrypts and decrypts a text string. It lets you specify the encryption
algorithm and encoding technique. It also has a field for a key seed to use with the
CFMX_COMPAT algorithm. For all other algorithms, it generates a secret key.
<h3>Encrypt Example</h3>
<!--- Do the following if the form has been submitted. --->
<cfif IsDefined("Form.myString")>
<cfscript>
/* GenerateSecretKey does not generate key for the CFMX_COMPAT algorithm,
so use the key from the form.
*/
if (Form.myAlgorithm EQ "CFMX_COMPAT")
theKey=Form.MyKey;
// For all other encryption techniques, generate a secret key.
else
theKey=generateSecretKey(Form.myAlgorithm);
//Encrypt the string
encrypted=encrypt(Form.myString, theKey, Form.myAlgorithm,
Form.myEncoding);
//Decrypt it
decrypted=decrypt(encrypted, theKey, Form.myAlgorithm, Form.myEncoding);
</cfscript>
<!--- Display the values used for encryption and decryption,
and the results. --->
<cfoutput>
<b>The algorithm:</b> #Form.myAlgorithm#<br>
<b>The key:</B> #theKey#<br>
<br>
<b>The string:</b> #Form.myString# <br>
<br>
<b>Encrypted:</b> #encrypted#<br>
<br>
<b>Decrypted:</b> #decrypted#<br>
</cfoutput>
</cfif>