I was wondering what the best approach to make secure connection to SQL Server would be? Here is my scenario. At my work, we have SQL Server 2012 Standard. My boss wanted me to create a new DB utilizing TDE. I found out that you have to have Enterprise Edition in order to use TDE. We looked into it and it was going to cost a fortune, so we are not going to purchase Enterprise Edition. So I was thinking about using Stored Procedures to interact with DB. Is this more secure than submitting SQL query across web? Also, what is the best security measure to communicate and transfer data to/from web app/DB server?

Thanks in advance,

Brad

EDIT:
Also, is there anyway to securely send username/password credentials in the connection string?