Getting Started with JASYPT easy encryption tools

Jasypt provides several easy encryption tools. These are classes which allow (with little or no configuration, and with no need of knowing what is happening "behind the scenes") the execution of some of the most common encryption tasks.

Thses tools are categorized depending on the task they are intended to do:

  • General digesting (org.jasypt.util.digest.*)
  • Password encryption (digesting) (org.jasypt.util.password.*)
  • Text encryption (org.jasypt.util.text.*)
  • Number encryption (org.jasypt.util.numeric.*)
  • Binary encryption (org.jasypt.util.binary.*)

General digesting

  • org.jasypt.util.digest.Digester which performs message digesting at a binary level, and which results are equivalent to the ones obtained from a java.security.MessageDigest object, although acting in a thread-safe way and implementing an interface more suitable for use in a bean-centric environment.
    ...
Digester digester = new Digester();
digester.setAlgorithm("SHA-1");
...
byte[] digest = digester.digest(message);
...

Password encryption (digesting)

All classes here implement the org.jasypt.util.password.PasswordEncryptor interface, so that they can be used interchangeabily if needed.

  • org.jasypt.util.password.BasicPasswordEncryptor which can be used to both encrypt passwords when users sign up and check input passwords when users sign in.
    ...
BasicPasswordEncryptor passwordEncryptor = new BasicPasswordEncryptor();
String encryptedPassword = passwordEncryptor.encryptPassword(userPassword);
...
if (passwordEncryptor.checkPassword(inputPassword, encryptedPassword)) {
  // correct!
} else {
  // bad login!
}
...
  • org.jasypt.util.password.StrongPasswordEncryptor which implements much higher password security than PasswordEncryptor (at a higher computational cost).
    ...
StrongPasswordEncryptor passwordEncryptor = new StrongPasswordEncryptor();
String encryptedPassword = passwordEncryptor.encryptPassword(userPassword);
...
if (passwordEncryptor.checkPassword(inputPassword, encryptedPassword)) {
  // correct!
} else {
  // bad login!
}
...
  • org.jasypt.util.password.ConfigurablePasswordEncryptor which lets the developer decide the algorithm to be used and whether he/she wants the full secure password encryption mechanism to be applied (as explained here) or rather a simple digest to be generated for legacy integration reasons.
    ...
ConfigurablePasswordEncryptor passwordEncryptor = new ConfigurablePasswordEncryptor();
passwordEncryptor.setAlgorithm("SHA-1");
passwordEncryptor.setPlainDigest(true);
String encryptedPassword = passwordEncryptor.encryptPassword(userPassword);
...
if (passwordEncryptor.checkPassword(inputPassword, encryptedPassword)) {
  // correct!
} else {
  // bad login!
}
...

Text encryption

All classes here implement the org.jasypt.util.text.TextEncryptor interface, so that they can be used interchangeabily if needed.

  • org.jasypt.util.text.BasicTextEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt text data using a normal-strength algorithm. In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
BasicTextEncryptor textEncryptor = new BasicTextEncryptor();
textEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
String myEncryptedText = textEncryptor.encrypt(myText);
...
String plainText = textEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedText);
...
  • org.jasypt.util.text.StrongTextEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt text data using a high-strength algorithm. (you may need to download and install the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files to use it). In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
StrongTextEncryptor textEncryptor = new StrongTextEncryptor();
textEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
String myEncryptedText = textEncryptor.encrypt(myText);
...
String plainText = textEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedText);
...

Number encryption

All classes here implement either the org.jasypt.util.numeric.DecimalNumberEncryptor or the org.jasypt.util.numeric.IntegerNumberEncryptor interfaces, so that they can be used interchangeabily if needed.

  • org.jasypt.util.numeric.BasicIntegerNumberEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt BigInteger objects using a normal-strength algorithm. In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
BasicIntegerNumberEncryptor integerEncryptor = new BasicIntegerNumberEncryptor();
integerEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
BigInteger myEncryptedNumber = textEncryptor.encrypt(myNumber);
...
BigInteger plainNumber = textEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedNumber);
...
  • org.jasypt.util.numeric.StrongIntegerNumberEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt BigInteger objects using a high-strength algorithm. (you may need to download and install the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files to use it). In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
StrongIntegerNumberEncryptor integerEncryptor = new StrongIntegerNumberEncryptor();
integerEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
BigInteger myEncryptedNumber = integerEncryptor.encrypt(myNumber);
...
BigInteger plainNumber = integerEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedNumber);
...
  • org.jasypt.util.numeric.BasicDecimalNumberEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt BigDecimal objects using a normal-strength algorithm. In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
BasicIntegerNumberEncryptor decimalEncryptor = new BasicIntegerNumberEncryptor();
decimalEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
BigDecimal myEncryptedNumber = decimalEncryptor.encrypt(myNumber);
...
BigDecimal plainNumber = decimalEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedNumber);
...
  • org.jasypt.util.numeric.StrongDecimalNumberEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt BigDecimal objects using a high-strength algorithm. (you may need to download and install the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files to use it). In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
StrongDecimalNumberEncryptor decimalEncryptor = new StrongDecimalNumberEncryptor();
decimalEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
BigDecimal myEncryptedNumber = decimalEncryptor.encrypt(myNumber);
...
BigDecimal plainNumber = decimalEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedNumber);
...

Binary encryption

All classes here implement the org.jasypt.util.binary.BinaryEncryptor interface, so that they can be used interchangeabily if needed.

  • org.jasypt.util.binary.BasicBinarytEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt byte[] objects using a normal-strength algorithm. In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
BasicBinaryEncryptor binaryEncryptor = new BasicBinaryEncryptor();
binaryEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
byte[] myEncryptedBinary = binaryEncryptor.encrypt(myBinary);
...
String plainBinary = binaryEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedBinary);
...
  • org.jasypt.util.binary.StrongBinaryEncryptor which allows the user to encrypt and decrypt byte[] objects using a high-strength algorithm. (you may need to download and install the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files to use it). In order to be able to encrypt and decrypt, this encryptor has to be set a password first.
    ...
StrongBinaryEncryptor binaryEncryptor = new StrongBinaryEncryptor();
binaryEncryptor.setPassword(myEncryptionPassword);
...
String myEncryptedBinary = binaryEncryptor.encrypt(myBinary);
...
String plainBinary = binaryEncryptor.decrypt(myEncryptedBinary);
...