# 2 Way encryption for password **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [September 2, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/2-way-encryption-for-password/113588 "2007-09-02T12:34:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mobileamusement)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/2-way-encryption-for-password/113588/1 "2007-09-02T12:34:48Z")
Hi I’m creating a password database (a dangerous thing to do, I know!) normally I’d hash the passwords for storage in the DB, but in this case I need to be able to also reverse them to their original state. I’m familiar with the digest module, but of course it isn’t of use here. I didn’t see anything obvious on my Google travels. Could anyone suggest how to perform encryption in ruby, in particular based on a rails application…? Many thanks Gabriel ---
**Author:** ![mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mobileamusement)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 1:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/2-way-encryption-for-password/113588/2 "2007-09-02T13:48:53Z")
Gabriel D. wrote: > Many thanks > > Gabriel Have a look here: [Crypto in ruby - Stake Ventures](http://stakeventures.com/articles/2005/06/16/crypto-in-ruby) (OpenSSL contains many encryption algorithms), and you might want to browse this list: [http://raa.ruby-lang.org/cat.rhtml?category\_major=Library;category\_minor=Cryptography](http://raa.ruby-lang.org/cat.rhtml?category_major=Library;category_minor=Cryptography) Hope this helps, Dan ---
**Author:** ![mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mobileamusement)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/2-way-encryption-for-password/113588/3 "2007-09-03T00:20:00Z")
On Sun, Sep 02, 2007 at 07:33:51PM +0900, Gabriel D. wrote: > Hi > > I’m creating a password database (a dangerous thing to do, I know!) > normally I’d hash the passwords for storage in the DB, but in this > case I need to be able to also reverse them to their original state. > I’m familiar with the digest module, but of course it isn’t of use > here. I didn’t see anything obvious on my Google travels. Could > anyone suggest how to perform encryption in ruby, in particular based > on a rails application…? You might want to check out keybox and see if it would meet your needs. ``` http://keybox.rubyforge.org/ ``` Its a pure ruby password database utilizing the SSL libraries for encryption. It ships as a commandline application but it is fully utilizable via its API. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. enjoy, -jeremy ---
**Author:** ![mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mobileamusement)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/2-way-encryption-for-password/113588/4 "2007-09-02T18:39:35Z")
On 2 Sep 2007, at 12:47, Dan Z. wrote: > > Gabriel > > Have a look here: [http://stakeventures.com/articles/2005/06/16/](http://stakeventures.com/articles/2005/06/16/) > crypto-in-ruby (OpenSSL contains many encryption algorithms), and > you might want to browse this list: [http://raa.ruby-lang.org/](http://raa.ruby-lang.org/) > cat.rhtml?category\_major=Library;category\_minor=Cryptography > > Hope this helps, > Dan Thank you very much, never thought of using the SSL library! Regards Gabe ---
**Author:** ![mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@mobileamusement](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mobileamusement)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 7:33am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/2-way-encryption-for-password/113588/5 "2007-09-03T07:33:24Z")
Gabriel D. wrote: > Hi > > I’m creating a password database (a dangerous thing to do, I know!) > normally I’d hash the passwords for storage in the DB, but in this > case I need to be able to also reverse them to their original state. > I’m familiar with the digest module, but of course it isn’t of use > here. I didn’t see anything obvious on my Google travels. Could > anyone suggest how to perform encryption in ruby, in particular based > on a rails application…? > > Many thanks > > Gabriel Small nitpick about terminology: encryption is per definition 2 way, what is often wrongly refered to as 1 way encryption is normally cryptographic hashing (also see the note [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way\_encryption:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_encryption:) “Note that encryption is, by definition, reversible. Hence, the term one-way encryption is slightly incorrect in a sense.”) Regards Stefan