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Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP <br />
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I have developed a web form which asks an applicant to supply personal information that I want to make sure is always protected. &nbsp;Currently I use SSL and encrypt the data in the database.<br />
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I am in the process of developing a web application where I can search the information I've collected from the above process. &nbsp;The challenge is that the data in the database is encrypted so if I'm trying to search by a name like 'john' I won't find it because it doesn't exist in the database that way. &nbsp;It exists in its encrypted form. &nbsp;I have many thousands of records so decrypting the data on the fly is not ideal.<br />
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I'm looking for a recommendation for a better way to store and search for data while always making sure the data is protected.
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Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP 

I have developed a web form which asks an applicant to supply personal information that I want to make sure is always protected.  Currently I use SSL and encrypt the data in the database.

I am in the process of developing a web application where I can search the information I've collected from the above process.  The challenge is that the data in the database is encrypted so if I'm trying to search by a name like 'john' I won't find it because it doesn't exist in the database that way.  It exists in its encrypted form.  I have many thousands of records so decrypting the data on the fly is not ideal.

I'm looking for a recommendation for a better way to store and search for data while always making sure the data is protected.

Storing and searching  encrypted data in the database for a web application

MySQL is an open source, relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. Acquired by Oracle in 2009, it is frequently used in combination with PHP installations, powering most of the WordPress installations.

MySQL Server

The Apache HTTP Server is a secure, efficient and extensible server that provides HTTP services in sync with the current HTTP standards. Typically Apache is run on a Unix-like operating system, but it is available for a wide variety of operating systems, including Linux, Novell NetWare, Mac OS-X and Windows. Released under the Apache License, Apache is open-source software.

Apache Web Server

PHP is a widely-used server-side scripting language especially suited for web development, powering tens of millions of sites from Facebook to personal WordPress blogs. PHP is often paired with the MySQL relational database, but includes support for most other mainstream databases. By utilizing different Server APIs, PHP can work on many different web servers as a server-side scripting language.