Firebird Documentation IndexFile and Metadata Security → Acceptable Low Security
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Acceptable Low Security

My comments so far have been directed at the idea of strong security and I guess the concept of security by obscurity has been written with some contempt. However at times weak security is all that you want. Sometimes the data is just not that valuable. You want to stop the casual browser and make it at least inconvenient for the more advanced thief.

I have used such schemes myself in various places. Often there is no point in throwing Twofish, AES or whatever at such schemes because those are all about strong encryption. They are heavy with processing overhead and complication relating to keeping the security strong. A simple XOR against some known string (the key) may be sufficient. If the key can be discovered by the thief then it does not matter whether you have used weak or strong encryption, the game is over anyway.

Note

Most simple XOR based algorithms can be broken with little effort. Consult a good encryption reference for more information and other options.

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Firebird Documentation IndexFile and Metadata Security → Acceptable Low Security