But anyone would be able to write a simple perl script that
reads the serialized data and prints the password. No. The
purpose is to encrypt the password by encrypting it.
You are correct. I was not commenting on the encryption technique
but speaking towards saving the password in something a little more
obscure and difficult than a DB. By all means encrypt the date, but
don't give anyone with a Brute Force program an inch towards getting your
password.