Simple way to encode a string according to a passw

Question

Does Python have a built-in, simple way of encoding/decoding strings using a password?

Something like this:

>>> encode('John Doe', password = 'mypass')
'sjkl28cn2sx0'
>>> decode('sjkl28cn2sx0', password = 'mypass')
'John Doe'

So the string "John Doe" gets encrypted as 'sjkl28cn2sx0'. To get the original string, I would "unlock" that string with the key 'mypass', which is a password in my source code. I'd like this to be the way I can encrypt/decrypt a Word document with a password.

I would like to use these encrypted strings as URL parameters. My goal is obfuscation, not strong security; nothing mission critical is being encoded. I realize I could use a database table to store keys and values, but am trying to be minimalist.

Answer 1

Thanks for some great answers. Nothing original to add, but here are some progressive rewrites of qneill's answer using some useful Python facilities. I hope you agree they simplify and clarify the code.

import base64


def qneill_encode(key, clear):
    enc = []
    for i in range(len(clear)):
        key_c = key[i % len(key)]
        enc_c = chr((ord(clear[i]) + ord(key_c)) % 256)
        enc.append(enc_c)
    return base64.urlsafe_b64encode("".join(enc))


def qneill_decode(key, enc):
    dec = []
    enc = base64.urlsafe_b64decode(enc)
    for i in range(len(enc)):
        key_c = key[i % len(key)]
        dec_c = chr((256 + ord(enc[i]) - ord(key_c)) % 256)
        dec.append(dec_c)
    return "".join(dec)

enumerate()-- pair the items in a list with their index

iterate over the characters in a string

def encode_enumerate(key, clear):
    enc = []
    for i, ch in enumerate(clear):
        key_c = key[i % len(key)]
        enc_c = chr((ord(ch) + ord(key_c)) % 256)
        enc.append(enc_c)
    return base64.urlsafe_b64encode("".join(enc))


def decode_enumerate(key, enc):
    dec = []
    enc = base64.urlsafe_b64decode(enc)
    for i, ch in enumerate(enc):
        key_c = key[i % len(key)]
        dec_c = chr((256 + ord(ch) - ord(key_c)) % 256)
        dec.append(dec_c)
    return "".join(dec)

build lists using a list comprehension

def encode_comprehension(key, clear):
    enc = [chr((ord(clear_char) + ord(key[i % len(key)])) % 256)
                for i, clear_char in enumerate(clear)]
    return base64.urlsafe_b64encode("".join(enc))


def decode_comprehension(key, enc):
    enc = base64.urlsafe_b64decode(enc)
    dec = [chr((256 + ord(ch) - ord(key[i % len(key)])) % 256)
           for i, ch in enumerate(enc)]
    return "".join(dec)

Often in Python there's no need for list indexes at all. Eliminate loop index variables entirely using zip and cycle:

from itertools import cycle


def encode_zip_cycle(key, clear):
    enc = [chr((ord(clear_char) + ord(key_char)) % 256)
                for clear_char, key_char in zip(clear, cycle(key))]
    return base64.urlsafe_b64encode("".join(enc))


def decode_zip_cycle(key, enc):
    enc = base64.urlsafe_b64decode(enc)
    dec = [chr((256 + ord(enc_char) - ord(key_char)) % 256)
                for enc_char, key_char in zip(enc, cycle(key))]
    return "".join(dec)

and some tests...

msg = 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.'
key = 'jMG6JV3QdtRh3EhCHWUi'
print('cleartext: {0}'.format(msg))
print('ciphertext: {0}'.format(encode_zip_cycle(key, msg)))

encoders = [qneill_encode, encode_enumerate, encode_comprehension, encode_zip_cycle]
decoders = [qneill_decode, decode_enumerate, decode_comprehension, decode_zip_cycle]

# round-trip check for each pair of implementations
matched_pairs = zip(encoders, decoders)
assert all([decode(key, encode(key, msg)) == msg for encode, decode in matched_pairs])
print('Round-trips for encoder-decoder pairs: all tests passed')

# round-trip applying each kind of decode to each kind of encode to prove equivalent
from itertools import product
all_combinations = product(encoders, decoders)
assert all(decode(key, encode(key, msg)) == msg for encode, decode in all_combinations)
print('Each encoder and decoder can be swapped with any other: all tests passed')

>>> python crypt.py
cleartext: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
ciphertext: vrWsVrvLnLTPlLTaorzWY67GzYnUwrSmvXaix8nmctybqoivqdHOic68rmQ=
Round-trips for encoder-decoder pairs: all tests passed
Each encoder and decoder can be swapped with any other: all tests passed

Answer 2

If you want to be safe, you can use Fernet, which is cryptographically sound. You can use a static "salt" if you don't want to store it separately - you will only lose dictionary and rainbow attack prevention. I chose it because I can pick long or short passwords´, which is not so easy with AES.

from cryptography.fernet import Fernet
from cryptography.hazmat.backends import default_backend
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import hashes
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.kdf.pbkdf2 import PBKDF2HMAC
import base64

#set password
password = "mysecretpassword"
#set message
message = "secretmessage"

kdf = PBKDF2HMAC(algorithm=hashes.SHA256(), length=32, salt="staticsalt", iterations=100000, backend=default_backend())
key = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(kdf.derive(password))
f = Fernet(key)

#encrypt
encrypted = f.encrypt(message)
print encrypted

#decrypt
decrypted = f.decrypt(encrypted)
print decrypted

If that's too complicated, someone suggested simplecrypt

from simplecrypt import encrypt, decrypt
ciphertext = encrypt('password', plaintext)
plaintext = decrypt('password', ciphertext)

Answer 3

You can use AES to encrypt your string with a password. Though, you'll want to chose a strong enough password so people can't easily guess what it is (sorry I can't help it. I'm a wannabe security weenie).

AES is strong with a good key size, but it's also easy to use with PyCrypto.