** Laravel's Built-in Encryption Feature Enhances Database Security
Encrypting sensitive data in a database is crucial for maintaining confidentiality and preventing unauthorized access. Laravel provides an easy-to-use 'encrypted' cast type, allowing developers to automatically encrypt specific attributes before storing them in the database. This feature is tied to the APP_KEY found in the .env file, which should remain unchanged on production servers.

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Source: https://dev.to/mshsayket/how-to-encrypt-and-decrypt-model-data-using-casts-in-laravel-31n