One of the cool features of SQL Server 2005 is out of the box data encryption capability. Not like SQL Server 2000 that requires 3rd party support or creating your own custom script, SQL05 comes with built in function to do that. It supports both symmetric and asymmetric encryption, as well as hashing. I created a sample script to do symmetric encryption. A slide deck presentation also available for a quick review about encryption architecture. Actually I created this material for one day SQL Server security workshop at Avantus. This one day workshop covers encryption, SQL injection, SQL Lock down, and security administration. I decide to release the encryption module here along with the sample script, but not include the detail manual. Some of the material comes from Lara Rubbelke's presentation. For some of you that still stick on SQL 2000, Michael Coles already created an encryption toolkit with no cost. Download the presentation.
Download the sample script.