Encryption in PHP - mcrypt and alternatives

I have a need for an encryption program that can encrypt/decrypt data. I previously had a programmer build me a C program that compiled and runs on the command line, which I would then call via PHP. We are experiencing with this however, a 5-7% fail rate on the decryption - not acceptable for the application. At this point the programmer is blaming the mcrypt libraries for the problem - I suspect not, but not being a C programmer, cannot refute this. So, the next step was to use Mcrypt Libraries through PHP. They are not compiled into our PHP version - 4.1.2, and we cannot re-compile PHP. First reason is that the server runs Plesk 5, and the original compile was done off server (you know - host provider - install via disk image, etc). Bottom line, PHP cannot be re-compiled with mcrypt. Finally, I tried dynamically loading he libmcrypt.so library - compiled just this morning specifically for this application. No go. It would not load from the php.ini file, and when I tried to load it on a page, using the dl() function - I got the error: Invalid library (maybe not a PHP library) 'libmcrypt.so' So at this point I am at a total loss. I cannot hash the data, I need it to be decrypted at another point as well. So, I guess I am asking this: 1. Is there any reasonably priced C programmer that would like to talk to me about fixing/re-writing this encryption program. 2. Have I overlooked anything with the dynamic loading of the mcrypt libraries. And 3. Am I missing another alternative for securely encrypting/decrypting data in PHP? Short of re-compiling or such. Thanks in advance! -- Cheers Mike Morton **************************************************** * * Tel: 905-465-1263 * Email: mike@webtraxx.com * **************************************************** "Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to describe the history of the computer industry for the past decade as a massive effort to keep up with Apple." - Byte Magazine Given infinite time, 100 monkeys could type out the complete works of Shakespeare. Win 98 source code? Eight monkeys, five minutes. -- NullGrey