passphrase

A passphrase from which to generate a symmetric key.

@passphrase

A variable of type nvarchar, char, varchar, binary, varbinary, or nchar containing a passphrase from which to generate a symmetric key.

cleartext

The cleartext to be encrypted.

@cleartext

A variable of type nvarchar, char, varchar, binary, varbinary, or nchar containing the cleartext. Maximum size is 8,000 bytes.

add_authenticator

Indicates whether an authenticator will be encrypted together with the cleartext. 1 if an authenticator will be added. int.

@add_authenticator

Indicates whether a hash will be encrypted together with the cleartext.

authenticator

Data from which to derive an authenticator. sysname.

@authenticator

A variable containing data from which to derive an authenticator.

varbinary with maximum size of 8,000 bytes.

A passphrase is a password that includes spaces. The advantage of using a passphrase is that it is easier to remember a meaningful phrase or sentence than to remember a comparably long string of characters.

This function does not check password complexity.

The following example updates a record in the SalesCreditCard table and encrypts the value of the credit card number stored in column CardNumber_EncryptedbyPassphrase, using the primary key as an authenticator.

USE AdventureWorks;
GO
-- Create a column in which to store the encrypted data.
ALTER TABLE Sales.CreditCard 
    ADD CardNumber_EncryptedbyPassphrase varbinary(256); 
GO
-- First get the passphrase from the user.
DECLARE @PassphraseEnteredByUser nvarchar(128);
SET @PassphraseEnteredByUser 
    = 'A little learning is a dangerous thing!';

-- Update the record for the user's credit card.
-- In this case, the record is number 3681.
UPDATE Sales.CreditCard
SET CardNumber_EncryptedbyPassphrase = EncryptByPassPhrase(@PassphraseEnteredByUser
    , CardNumber, 1, CONVERT( varbinary, CreditCardID))
WHERE CreditCardID = '3681';
GO

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