MD5 Encryption Issue

[JLongo3925]

I am trying to create a username and password retrieval form, which emails the user their username and password upon entering their email address in the form. The problem I am running into is the password part. I encrypt the password using the md5(); function. When I retrieve the username and password associated with the user and email them their password, I do not want the password to be in md5(); encryption. I want their password to be in "plain text".

 

For instance, I have a password of JoeLongo where the md5(); version is b05cc42b0a4008d9a01694f6826f1de5. When the password is emailed to the person, I want them to have JoeLongo emailed to them and not b05cc42b0a4008d9a01694f6826f1de5. I know md5 is considered one way hash.

 

Is there a way to do this? How should I handle people forgetting their username and password? Should I use md5 encryption?

 

Thanks,

Joe

[falkencreative]

I have something similar set up for one of the sites I am working on at the moment. In my case, I have used md5() to store encrypt the password. If the user forgets their password, they fill out a form, and a new random password is created and emailed to them. When they log in for the first time using the new password, the system presents them with a form to update their password to something that will be more memorable for them.

 

As you say, md5() is a one way hash, so it isn't possible to get the original from the hash (at least, not without a extremely long database of possible matches, which seems highly inefficient)

[JLongo3925]

Thanks again for your idea. I was racking my brain over ways to solve my issue. This offers a nice solution to my issues.