WebApp Sec: Re: Encrypted cookies

[Lucas Oman <me () lucasoman com>]

Ron wrote:
> me why, it's a long story). So here's what they propose: to take the 
> username, hash of the password, and date the user logged in, encrypt 
> them with a strong encryption algorithm, and store them in a cookie 
> (along with a hash to ensure integrity).
Be sure to include a server-side secret string in the hash so that the 
data can't be altered, re-encrypted, and re-hashed to appear as if 
integrity had been maintained. Also, a quick expiry of the cookie, 
enforced by the server using a timestamp stored in the encrypted string, 
can mitigate the risk of replay attacks.

Lucas

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Web Software Dev
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912.655.9594
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