Question

Function to encrypt/decrypt a string

Asked by: JagC

Hi all

Overview
In a web app that I am developing I need to email the user a piece of info. After logging on to the system they will enter this piece of info and it will use this, as well as other bits of info from the database.

This string though needs to be encrypted. It is not for security reasons as such, just to obfuscate the actual string value. It is not a database key, an ID or anything like that. Just a simple string that we do not store but instead send to the client. (Unfortunately I am not allowed to provide any more information on this :(

Once they have logged on and entered the string, it will be decrypted and displayed on the screen. As a result, the function (or two) needs to be two way.

Requirements:
1. Encrypt a short character string consisting of characters, numbers and spaces (max leng about 5).
2. The encrypted string should be of fixed length (of about 8 characters)
3. The decryption function should take this encrypted string and convert it back exactly.
4. Must not require any kind of server side install (I have access to the server but do not trust 'unknown' components and there is no budget for it as it's not mission critical).

I've tried:
Standard ROT13 functions
these only work with characters and the length is the same as the original string - so no good

MD5 Hashing
A project I worked on years ago had a MD5 hash and unhash function (I know MD% is one way, but this one wasn't :). There are  a few sites that can MD5 hash a string and unhash it - but I can't find anything like this that actually displays the code. (I have an MD5 hashing function but not one to unhash it)

Various other code snippets
I've been googling this for hours, sorting through code trying to find something suitable. But no joy.

To re-iterate. The function(s) does not need to be massively complex - just enough to obfuscate the string and return a fixed length string that can then be decrypted.

I don't have the time to do it myself or I would :) Even though I just spent hours trying to find one :(

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Asked On
2007-07-05 at 09:25:20ID22677216
Tags

decrypt

,

function

,

encrypt

,

string

Topic

Active Server Pages (ASP)

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: effxPosted on 2007-07-05 at 09:39:15ID: 19425361

Try :

<%
Function MyASC(OneChar)
      If OneChar = "" Then MyASC = 0 Else MyASC = Asc(OneChar)
End Function

Function Base64Encode(inData)
      Const Base64 = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/"
      Dim cOut, sOut, I
      For I = 1 To Len(inData) Step 3
            Dim nGroup, pOut, sGroup
            nGroup = &H10000 * Asc(Mid(inData, I, 1)) + &H100 * MyAsc(Mid(inData, I + 1, 1)) + MyAsc(Mid(inData, I + 2, 1))
            nGroup = Oct(nGroup)
            nGroup = String(8 - Len(nGroup), "0") & nGroup
            pOut = Mid(Base64, CLng("&o" & Mid(nGroup, 1, 2)) + 1, 1) + Mid(Base64, CLng("&o" & Mid(nGroup, 3, 2)) + 1, 1) + Mid(Base64, CLng("&o" & Mid(nGroup, 5, 2)) + 1, 1) + Mid(Base64, CLng("&o" & Mid(nGroup, 7, 2)) + 1, 1)
            sOut = sOut + pOut
      Next
      Select Case Len(inData) Mod 3
            Case 1: '8 bit final
                  sOut = Left(sOut, Len(sOut) - 2) + "=="
            Case 2: '16 bit final
                  sOut = Left(sOut, Len(sOut) - 1) + "="
      End Select
      Base64Encode = sOut
End Function

Function Base64Decode(base64String)
  'rfc1521
  '1999 Antonin Foller, Motobit Software, http://Motobit.cz
  Const Base64 = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/"
  Dim dataLength, sOut, groupBegin
 
  'remove white spaces, If any
  base64String = Replace(base64String, vbCrLf, "")
  base64String = Replace(base64String, vbTab, "")
  base64String = Replace(base64String, " ", "")
 
  'The source must consists from groups with Len of 4 chars
  dataLength = Len(base64String)
  If dataLength Mod 4 <> 0 Then
    Err.Raise 1, "Base64Decode", "Bad Base64 string."
    Exit Function
  End If

 
  ' Now decode each group:
  For groupBegin = 1 To dataLength Step 4
    Dim numDataBytes, CharCounter, thisChar, thisData, nGroup, pOut
    ' Each data group encodes up To 3 actual bytes.
    numDataBytes = 3
    nGroup = 0

    For CharCounter = 0 To 3
      ' Convert each character into 6 bits of data, And add it To
      ' an integer For temporary storage.  If a character is a '=', there
      ' is one fewer data byte.  (There can only be a maximum of 2 '=' In
      ' the whole string.)

      thisChar = Mid(base64String, groupBegin + CharCounter, 1)

      If thisChar = "=" Then
        numDataBytes = numDataBytes - 1
        thisData = 0
      Else
        thisData = InStr(1, Base64, thisChar, vbBinaryCompare) - 1
      End If
      If thisData = -1 Then
        Err.Raise 2, "Base64Decode", "Bad character In Base64 string."
        Exit Function
      End If

      nGroup = 64 * nGroup + thisData
    Next
   
    'Hex splits the long To 6 groups with 4 bits
    nGroup = Hex(nGroup)
   
    'Add leading zeros
    nGroup = String(6 - Len(nGroup), "0") & nGroup
   
    'Convert the 3 byte hex integer (6 chars) To 3 characters
    pOut = Chr(CByte("&H" & Mid(nGroup, 1, 2))) + _
      Chr(CByte("&H" & Mid(nGroup, 3, 2))) + _
      Chr(CByte("&H" & Mid(nGroup, 5, 2)))
   
    'add numDataBytes characters To out string
    sOut = sOut & Left(pOut, numDataBytes)
  Next

  Base64Decode = sOut
End Function

%>

 

by: michael-miriosPosted on 2007-07-05 at 09:41:49ID: 19425379

you'll want to use AES with a seed.

a seed is just a random string of data you postpend to the string (message + seed) so the encrypted result is more random.

 

by: michael-miriosPosted on 2007-07-05 at 09:42:30ID: 19425386

do NOT use base64 as posted above; that is not ENCRYPTION by ENCODING.

 

by: ddrudikPosted on 2007-07-05 at 09:47:59ID: 19425421

JagC, sounds like you are asking for encoding instead of encryption and in that case the example given should work for you, but if you are actually looking for encryption I would recommend RC4:
http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/webtech/010100-1.shtml

 

by: michael-miriosPosted on 2007-07-05 at 09:49:30ID: 19425436

please note that AES is the industry standard and most tested/accepted algorithm to use. it is preferable.

 

by: effxPosted on 2007-07-05 at 10:12:08ID: 19425597

I agree that was not exactly encryption just encoding, random seeds are a million times better.

 

by: JagCPosted on 2007-07-05 at 13:52:03ID: 19427228

Thanks for the replies guys.
I haven't really done much in the way of encoding/encryption. Usually on larger projects we just buy the appropriate components and I don;t usually get a say in it.

As I said, it doesn't need to be 'uncrackable' just enough to obfuscate the true value. The string on its own, even enencoded, is useless on its own. And they are only given the other info they need when it goes through our unencoding method.

So I shall try it out tomorrow. :)

 

by: ddrudikPosted on 2007-07-05 at 13:53:11ID: 19427236

JagC, in that case, effx's solution would work for what you need.

 

by: michael-miriosPosted on 2007-07-05 at 18:40:39ID: 19429048

just note that if you do do that; the string CAN be modified trivially by the person receiving it. if it's encrypted, they can't.

 

by: mgfranzPosted on 2007-07-06 at 00:25:29ID: 19430042

When I want to encrypt/encode/obfuscate, (whatever you want to call it), a simple text string I use this little set of functions;

<%
' Function encrypts the data passed
Private Function Encrypt(ByVal string)
      Dim x, i, tmp
      For i = 1 To Len( string )
            x = Mid( string, i, 1 )
            tmp = tmp & Chr( Asc( x ) + 1 )
      Next
      tmp = StrReverse( tmp )
      Encrypt = tmp
End Function
%>
<%
' Lets run the decrypt function

Private Function Decrypt(ByVal encryptedstring)
      Dim x, i, tmp
      encryptedstring = StrReverse( encryptedstring )
      For i = 1 To Len( encryptedstring )
            x = Mid( encryptedstring, i, 1 )
            tmp = tmp & Chr( Asc( x ) - 1 )
      Next
      Decrypt = tmp
End Function

%>

Plain Text: This is a test string.
Encrypted: /hojsut!utfu!b!tj!tjiU

 

by: effxPosted on 2007-07-06 at 01:12:58ID: 19430178

The only problem with that is you would know how many words and spaces there are just by the ! chr

 

by: JagCPosted on 2007-07-06 at 03:28:45ID: 19430602

Thanks for that effx, works perfectly. Even catches errors in the Decode.

michael-mirios
Thanks for the advice although at the moment it doesn't need to be especially robust and if they do tamper with the string it doesn't really matter as it won't fit with the rest of the info they recieve.

mgfranz
Unfortunately it still keeps the same number of characters and tends to keep numbers as numbers and characters as characters.

So I have to give the points to effx.

Thanks again peeps.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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