hmm Encrypt db content?

[gotboots]

Hi all.

Im wondering if it is common practice to encrypt the database contents. or is it normally left in plain text.
for example, in a databse I have, the contents is stored in plain text:

a select query would bring up "hello world", but should it be an encrypted form of "hello world" when stored?
your opinions are most welcome. In my opinion, which im not sure about, It makes it easier to transform / transport / work with while coding etc but also creates a security issue. Then again, if you encrypt thousands of records and lose the key to it, how do you recover it when its encrypted? So Im undecided, I guess it has its pros and cons..

[minitauros]

I guess the big question here is: what kind of data are we talking about? If we're talking about highly private data, like money transfer records etc., you could consider encrypting it, but, if it is data that is publically available to anyone anyway, why would you even bother encrypting it?

[debasisdas]

As already mentioned in the previous post, encryption is done for highly secure data fnot for all. Encryption/ decryption of data is implemented through some predefined objects like a procedure or function or some tool. So that there is no issue of loosing the key.