You might have already noticed that even database servers like Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 have no method of hiding even password fields from prying eyes. Instead passwords are stored as plain text. Not good. Even Microsoft Access provides a way to mask fileds you would prefer not to be easily read. Not so SQL Server - and probably quite a few other database servers suffer the same issue. This is easily rectified however using two handy functions built-in to ColdFusion, from at at least version 5.0 and above (I think they were in 4.x also). I've developed the following code using CFMX updated 3.

Author: Peter Tilbrook