See the file "index.php" for a working example.
OVERVIEW
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is a cipher adopted by the U.S. government for its classified documents. It's secure (all known attacks are computationally infeasible), and fast in both hardware and software.
CTR (Counter) mode is a cryptographic mode that converts a block cipher like AES into a stream cipher that can be used on any stream of data with arbitrary length. CTR mode has a particularly elegant implementation, and has been widely adopted.
CHOOSING AN AES ENCRYPTION KEY:
Before you can encrypt/decrypt messages, you'll need an encryption key. AES supports encryption keys with three lengths, corresponding to increasing levels of security.
NSA rating: key length: example key: SECRET 128 bits (16 bytes*) aN-zx:+_z)UP[`vz TOP SECRET 192 bits (24 bytes) Thl\TFvON6J"sb(VGhw@gTr TOP SECRET 256 bits (32 bytes) V<||5DK7KdRYyBLEtY^w~0yk1"#NCZ|N
- In general: 1 byte = 1 ASCII character.
The Gibson Research Corporation provides an online tool that generates cryptographically-strong (maximum entropy) keys: https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm
FUTHER READING:
AES encryption: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.79.1353&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38a/sp800-38a.pdf
Counter (CTR) mode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_cipher_modes_of_operation#Counter_.28CTR.29
