I apologize if this has been addressed before, but I have done some research and not been able to come up with a clear answer on my own.
I am using PHP's openSSL functions to encrypt data using 256 bit AES and storing it in an SQL database. I was surprised that (at least from my research), there did not seem to be an easy way to decrypt this data (there is in MySql after all).
Perhaps I am simply overlooking something incredibly obvious but how can I decrypt this data so that I can display it to trusted users? I can use either C# or Transact SQL to perform this task, but, to my surprise, have yet to figure how to accomplish it with either.
Again, I do not mean to waste anybody's time or just have someone 'feed' me the answers, but I have looked into without success. As such, I really appreciate any help.