public BigInteger encryptPassword(String passwd)
			throws NoSuchAlgorithmException {

		MessageDigest md;

		try {
			md = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
		} catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) {
			LOGGER.error("Could not encrypt password", e);
			throw e;
		}

		md.update(passwd.getBytes());
		BigInteger encryptedPasswd = new BigInteger(1, md.digest());
		return encryptedPasswd;
	}