There is an alternative to random session keys which also avoids cookies (for those who don't like cookies):

Have the user log in once with username and password and generate a long random string to use as the session key. Record the user, ip, current time, and session key in a database of active sessions.

All URL requests for web pages, scripts, must be preceeded by the session key:

http://yoursite.com/get.cgi?bdjaiwmcvndjqidm+the_page.html

Everytime a page is requested, you check the session key, ip, and the current time against those in the database of active sessions. If the match fails, or the current time is longer than the lifespan you have chosen for the key, you request that the user log in.

Using this approach, the password is only transmitted once, at the start of each session, and the session key is of limited use if it is intercepted because it has a short lifespan and must match with the ip.

Note: The user never has to type in the key themselves, because you serve them up pages with the key already included in the links. This is not a major security problem for the reasons stated above.

Joe.

In reply to Re: Re: Is this use of crypt() appropriate? by nufsaid
in thread Is this use of crypt() appropriate? by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.