🔐 Building a Simple Web-Based Text Encryptor with Flask and Fernet

In today’s digital age, securing sensitive information is more important than ever — even for the average web user. As part of my cybersecurity journey, I created a simple web-based text encryption and decryption tool using Python’s Flask framework and Fernet symmetric encryption from the cryptography library.

🌟 What the Project Does

This tool allows users to:

• 🔒 Encrypt plain text into unreadable, secure ciphertext

• 🔓 Decrypt ciphertext back into its original text form

• All in a clean, minimalist web interface — no installations required

🛠️ How It Works

• The user enters a message into a text box.

• Upon clicking Encrypt or Decrypt, the tool performs the action server-side using the Fernet encryption key, which is stored securely in environment variables.

• The result is displayed instantly on the same page.

Under the hood:

• 🔐 cryptography.Fernet ensures strong AES encryption

• 🌐 Flask serves the web app and handles routing

💻 Tech Stack

• Python 3

• Flask

• Cryptography (Fernet)

• HTML + minimal CSS

• Hosted on Render

🔗 Try the Live Demo

Live Demo

Go ahead and enter a message — try encrypting and decrypting your own data!

🎥 Watch the Walkthrough

📽️ Loom Video Walkthrough

✍️ Full Code + Setup Instructions

📁 GitHub Repository: repo

Includes:

• Setup guide

• Environment configuration

• Deployment steps

🧠 Lessons I Learned

• Preventing insecure encryption practices

• How to deploy Flask apps on Render in minutes

🔐 Why This Project Matters

This is more than just a toy project. Encryption is a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity. By building this, I solidified my understanding of how symmetric encryption works in real-world applications — especially relevant for login systems, password storage, and secure communications.

📚 What's Next?

I plan to:

• Add file encryption support (WIP with file_encryptor.py)

• Build a REST API version

• Add user sessions with Flask-login and audit trails

Want to build something similar or learn how encryption really works? Let’s connect! 🚀