diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 19ee9532..5ae40fa6 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ endif()
 set(SQLB_HDR
 	src/gen_version.h
 	src/sqlitetypes.h
-    src/csvparser.h
+	src/csvparser.h
 	src/grammar/sqlite3TokenTypes.hpp
 	src/grammar/Sqlite3Lexer.hpp
 	src/grammar/Sqlite3Parser.hpp
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ set(SQLB_MOC_HDR
 	src/sqltextedit.h
 	src/DbStructureModel.h
 	src/Application.h
+	src/sqlite.h
 )
 
 set(SQLB_SRC
@@ -179,13 +180,21 @@ if(APPLE)
 	add_definitions(-DCHECKNEWVERSION)
 endif(APPLE)
 
+# SQLCipher option
+if(sqlcipher)
+	add_definitions(-DSQLCIPHER)
+	set(LIBSQLITE_NAME sqlcipher)
+else(sqlcipher)
+	set(LIBSQLITE_NAME sqlite3)
+endif(sqlcipher)
+
 # add extra library path for MacOS and FreeBSD
 set(EXTRAPATH APPLE OR ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "FreeBSD")
 if(EXTRAPATH) 
-	find_library(LIBSQLITE sqlite3 HINTS /usr/local/lib /usr/local/opt/sqlite/lib)
+	find_library(LIBSQLITE ${LIBSQLITE_NAME} HINTS /usr/local/lib /usr/local/opt/sqlite/lib)
 	set(ADDITIONAL_INCLUDE_PATHS /usr/local/include /usr/local/opt/sqlite/include)
 else(EXTRAPATH)
-	find_library(LIBSQLITE sqlite3)
+	find_library(LIBSQLITE ${LIBSQLITE_NAME})
 endif(EXTRAPATH)
 
 include_directories(
diff --git a/src/AboutDialog.cpp b/src/AboutDialog.cpp
index d41519a0..39e4300b 100644
--- a/src/AboutDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/AboutDialog.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include "AboutDialog.h"
 #include "ui_AboutDialog.h"
 #include "gen_version.h"
-#include <sqlite3.h>
+#include "sqlite.h"
 
 AboutDialog::AboutDialog(QWidget *parent) :
     QDialog(parent),
@@ -12,7 +12,11 @@ AboutDialog::AboutDialog(QWidget *parent) :
 
     ui->label_version->setText(ui->label_version->text() + " " + APP_VERSION);
     ui->label_versionqt->setText(ui->label_versionqt->text() + " " + QT_VERSION_STR);
+#ifdef SQLCIPHER
+    ui->label_versionsqlite->setText(ui->label_versionsqlite->text().replace("SQLite", "SQLCipher") + " " + SQLITE_VERSION);
+#else
     ui->label_versionsqlite->setText(ui->label_versionsqlite->text() + " " + SQLITE_VERSION);
+#endif
 }
 
 AboutDialog::~AboutDialog()
diff --git a/src/ExportCsvDialog.cpp b/src/ExportCsvDialog.cpp
index 03a8e67f..7ed1a8ed 100644
--- a/src/ExportCsvDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/ExportCsvDialog.cpp
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 #include "sqlitedb.h"
 #include "PreferencesDialog.h"
 #include "sqlitetablemodel.h"
+#include "sqlite.h"
 
 #include <QFile>
 #include <QTextStream>
 #include <QMessageBox>
 #include <QFileDialog>
-#include <sqlite3.h>
 
 ExportCsvDialog::ExportCsvDialog(DBBrowserDB* db, QWidget* parent, const QString& query, const QString& selection)
     : QDialog(parent),
diff --git a/src/ImportCsvDialog.cpp b/src/ImportCsvDialog.cpp
index 5d442ac8..fc07dc2b 100644
--- a/src/ImportCsvDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/ImportCsvDialog.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "ui_ImportCsvDialog.h"
 #include "sqlitedb.h"
 #include "csvparser.h"
+#include "sqlite.h"
 
 #include <QMessageBox>
 #include <QProgressDialog>
@@ -10,7 +11,6 @@
 #include <QTextCodec>
 #include <QCompleter>
 #include <QComboBox>
-#include <sqlite3.h>
 #include <QFile>
 #include <QTextStream>
 #include <QSettings>
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.cpp b/src/MainWindow.cpp
index 4917acae..3c028a13 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "VacuumDialog.h"
 #include "DbStructureModel.h"
 #include "gen_version.h"
+#include "sqlite.h"
 
 #include <QFileDialog>
 #include <QFile>
@@ -28,7 +29,6 @@
 #include <QScrollBar>
 #include <QSortFilterProxyModel>
 #include <QElapsedTimer>
-#include <sqlite3.h>
 #include <QNetworkRequest>
 #include <QNetworkReply>
 #include <QNetworkAccessManager>
@@ -195,23 +195,30 @@ bool MainWindow::fileOpen(const QString& fileName, bool dontAddToRecentFiles)
     if(QFile::exists(wFile) )
     {
         fileClose();
-        if(db.open(wFile))
+        // Try opening it as a project file first
+        if(loadProject(wFile))
         {
-            statusEncodingLabel->setText(db.getPragma("encoding"));
-            setCurrentFile(wFile);
-            if(!dontAddToRecentFiles)
-                addToRecentFilesMenu(wFile);
             retval = true;
         } else {
-            // Failed opening file; so it might be a project file instead
-            return loadProject(wFile);
+            // No project file; so it should be a database file
+            if(db.open(wFile))
+            {
+                statusEncodingLabel->setText(db.getPragma("encoding"));
+                setCurrentFile(wFile);
+                if(!dontAddToRecentFiles)
+                    addToRecentFilesMenu(wFile);
+                openSqlTab(true);
+                retval = true;
+            } else {
+                QMessageBox::warning(this, qApp->applicationName(), tr("Invalid file format."));
+                return false;
+            }
         }
         loadExtensionsFromSettings();
         populateStructure();
         resetBrowser();
         if(ui->mainTab->currentIndex() == 2)
             loadPragmas();
-        openSqlTab(true);
     }
 
     return retval;
@@ -1749,10 +1756,7 @@ bool MainWindow::loadProject(QString filename)
         xml.readNext();     // token == QXmlStreamReader::StartDocument
         xml.readNext();     // name == sqlb_project
         if(xml.name() != "sqlb_project")
-        {
-            QMessageBox::warning(this, qApp->applicationName(), tr("Invalid file format."));
             return false;
-        }
 
         addToRecentFilesMenu(filename);
 
diff --git a/src/sqlite.h b/src/sqlite.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d4945f85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/sqlite.h
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#ifndef SQLITE_H
+#define SQLITE_H
+
+#ifdef SQLCIPHER
+    #define SQLITE_TEMP_STORE 2
+    #define SQLITE_HAS_CODEC
+    #include <sqlcipher/sqlite3.h>
+#else
+    #include <sqlite3.h>
+#endif
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/sqlitedb.cpp b/src/sqlitedb.cpp
index 95ec31bc..2a82d56b 100644
--- a/src/sqlitedb.cpp
+++ b/src/sqlitedb.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "sqlitedb.h"
 #include "sqlitetablemodel.h"
+#include "sqlite.h"
 
 #include <QFile>
 #include <QMessageBox>
@@ -7,7 +8,7 @@
 #include <QApplication>
 #include <QSettings>
 #include <QDebug>
-#include <sqlite3.h>
+#include <QInputDialog>
 
 // collation callbacks
 int collCompare(void* /*pArg*/, int /*eTextRepA*/, const void* sA, int /*eTextRepB*/, const void* sB)
@@ -43,32 +44,62 @@ bool DBBrowserDB::getDirty() const
     return !savepointList.empty();
 }
 
-bool DBBrowserDB::open ( const QString & db)
+bool DBBrowserDB::open(const QString& db)
 {
     bool ok=false;
     int  err;
 
     if (isOpen()) close();
 
-    //try to verify the SQLite version 3 file header
-    QFile dbfile(db);
-    if ( dbfile.open( QIODevice::ReadOnly ) ) {
-        char buffer[16+1];
-        dbfile.readLine(buffer, 16);
-        QString contents = QString(buffer);
-        dbfile.close();
-        if (!contents.startsWith("SQLite format 3")) {
-            lastErrorMessage = QObject::tr("File is not a SQLite 3 database");
-            return false;
-        }
-    } else {
-        lastErrorMessage = QObject::tr("File could not be read");
+    lastErrorMessage = QObject::tr("no error");
+
+    // Open database file
+    if(sqlite3_open_v2(db.toUtf8(), &_db, SQLITE_OPEN_READWRITE, NULL) != SQLITE_OK)
+    {
+        lastErrorMessage = QString::fromUtf8((const char*)sqlite3_errmsg(_db));
         return false;
     }
 
-    lastErrorMessage = QObject::tr("no error");
-
-    err = sqlite3_open_v2(db.toUtf8(), &_db, SQLITE_OPEN_READWRITE, NULL);
+    // Try reading from database
+    bool done = false;
+    do
+    {
+        QString statement = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sqlite_master;";
+        QByteArray utf8Statement = statement.toUtf8();
+        sqlite3_stmt* vm;
+        const char* tail;
+        err = sqlite3_prepare_v2(_db, utf8Statement, utf8Statement.length(), &vm, &tail);
+        if(sqlite3_step(vm) != SQLITE_ROW)
+        {
+#ifdef SQLCIPHER
+            QString pass = QInputDialog::getText(0, qApp->applicationName(),
+                                                 QObject::tr("Couldn't read from database file. This means it is either not a valid SQLite3 "
+                                                             "database or it is encrypted.\nIn the latter case you can provide a passphrase to open the file. Note"
+                                                             "that only databases encrypted using SQLCipher are supported."));
+            if(pass.isEmpty())
+            {
+                sqlite3_close(_db);
+                _db = 0;
+                return false;
+            } else {
+                int pagesize = QInputDialog::getInt(0, qApp->applicationName(),
+                                                    QObject::tr("If the database has been encrypted using a different page size than normally (i.e. 1024 bytes) this "
+                                                                "value is required, too."),
+                                                    1024, 0);
+                if(pagesize == 0) pagesize = 1024;
+                sqlite3_key(_db, pass.toUtf8(), pass.toUtf8().length());
+                sqlite3_exec(_db, QString("PRAGMA cipher_page_size = %1;").arg(pagesize).toUtf8(), NULL, NULL, NULL);
+            }
+#else
+            sqlite3_close(_db);
+            _db = 0;
+            return false;
+#endif
+        } else {
+            done = true;
+        }
+        sqlite3_finalize(vm);
+    } while(!done);
 
     // register collation callback
     sqlite3_collation_needed(_db, NULL, collation_needed);
diff --git a/src/sqlitetablemodel.cpp b/src/sqlitetablemodel.cpp
index 26ced406..2af27dd8 100644
--- a/src/sqlitetablemodel.cpp
+++ b/src/sqlitetablemodel.cpp
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 #include "sqlitetablemodel.h"
 #include "sqlitedb.h"
+#include "sqlite.h"
 
 #include <QDebug>
 #include <QMessageBox>
 #include <QApplication>
-#include <sqlite3.h>
 
 SqliteTableModel::SqliteTableModel(QObject* parent, DBBrowserDB* db, size_t chunkSize)
     : QAbstractTableModel(parent)
diff --git a/src/src.pro b/src/src.pro
index e14f6b9e..ee481803 100644
--- a/src/src.pro
+++ b/src/src.pro
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ HEADERS += \
     SqlExecutionArea.h \
     VacuumDialog.h \
     DbStructureModel.h \
-    Application.h
+    Application.h \
+    sqlite.h
 
 SOURCES += \
     sqlitedb.cpp \
@@ -88,6 +89,13 @@ TRANSLATIONS += \
     translations/sqlb_fr.ts \
     translations/sqlb_ru.ts
 
+CONFIG(sqlcipher) {
+	QMAKE_CXXFLAGS += -DENABLE_SQLCIPHER
+	LIBS += -lsqlcipher
+} else {
+	LIBS += -lsqlite3
+}
+
 LIBPATH_QHEXEDIT=$$PWD/../libs/qhexedit
 LIBPATH_ANTLR=$$PWD/../libs/antlr-2.7.7
 LIBPATH_QCUSTOMPLOT=$$PWD/../libs/qcustomplot-source
@@ -121,7 +129,7 @@ mac {
 
 UI_DIR = .ui
 INCLUDEPATH += $$PWD/../libs/antlr-2.7.7 $$PWD/../libs/qhexedit $$PWD/../libs/qcustomplot-source $$PWD/..
-LIBS += -L$$LIBPATH_QHEXEDIT -L$$LIBPATH_ANTLR -L$$LIBPATH_QCUSTOMPLOT -lantlr -lqhexedit -lqcustomplot -lsqlite3
+LIBS += -L$$LIBPATH_QHEXEDIT -L$$LIBPATH_ANTLR -L$$LIBPATH_QCUSTOMPLOT -lantlr -lqhexedit -lqcustomplot
 DEPENDPATH += $$PWD/../libs/antlr-2.7.7 $$PWD/../libs/qhexedit $$PWD/../libs/qcustomplot-source
 
 # Rules for creating/updating {ts|qm}-files