Don't use RC4 for general purpose encryption. RC4 is a stream cipher which means it is easy to use improperly and compromise security. The most important thing about a stream cipher is never use the same key twice, because the ciphertext can be recovered.

Steam ciphers are useful when a random key is generated for each session, and fast performance and low overhead is needed. RC4 is used this way is SSL, but SSL is very careful to use it properly. A good example of using RC4 improperly is WEP. Through flaws in the protocol, it is possible to discover the key by sniffing the wireless network.

I would suggest using a block cipher, like AES or Blowfish. The Crypt::CBC module handles all the details of chaining modes.

In reply to Re: Help with RC4 by iburrell
in thread Help with RC4 by jmamer

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