A magic decoder ring, helps.I got mine in a box of lucky charms. =-) It is pretty easy to implement an encrypted filesystem and use encrypted transmission protocols ssl/tls, kerberos, etc. nowadays. But given that you want the administrator to easily be able to decrypt the data, you are also looking at potential for "hackers" to also easily be able to decrypt the data thus defeating your own purpose. Is there something specific you are interested in implementing first? It is a multi-step, multi-layer process. Pick a starting point. The first is usually, either network, or server security. -------------------------------------- Sean O'Malley, Information Technologist Michigan State University -------------------------------------