If you build a web-based script you can use htpasswd to help authenticate the user.

Just a thought.....

[quote]

NAME
htpasswd - Create and update user authentication files

SYNOPSIS
htpasswd [ -c ] [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] passwdfile username
htpasswd -b [ -c ] [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] passwdfile username password
htpasswd -n [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] username
htpasswd -nb [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] username password

DESCRIPTION
htpasswd is used to create and update the flat-files used to store user-
names and password for basic authentication of HTTP users. If htpasswd
cannot access a file, such as not being able to write to the output file
or not being able to read the file in order to update it, it returns an
error status and makes no changes.

Resources available from the httpd Apache web server can be restricted to
just the users listed in the files created by htpasswd. This program can
only manage usernames and passwords stored in a flat-file. It can encrypt
and display password information for use in other types of data stores,
though. To use a DBM database see dbmmanage.

htpasswd encrypts passwords using either a version of MD5 modified for
Apache, or the system's crypt() routine. Files managed by htpasswd may
contain both types of passwords; some user records may have MD5-encrypted
passwords while others in the same file may have passwords encrypted with
crypt().

....

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