diff --git a/src/main/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/PBECipher.java b/src/main/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/PBECipher.java
index 5f3df00..a3094e1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/PBECipher.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/PBECipher.java
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
 
 import java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException;
 import java.security.InvalidKeyException;
-import java.security.MessageDigest;
 import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
 import java.security.SecureRandom;
 import java.security.spec.InvalidKeySpecException;
@@ -56,7 +55,7 @@ public class PBECipher {
 
     protected static final String CIPHER_ALG = "AES/CBC/PKCS5Padding";
 
-    protected static final int PBE_ITERATIONS = 1000;
+    protected static final int PBE_ITERATIONS = 310000;
 
     private static final SecureRandom _secureRandom = new SecureRandom();
 
@@ -131,9 +130,8 @@ public String decrypt64(final String encryptedText, final String password) throw
     private Cipher createCipher(final char[] pwd, byte[] salt, final int mode)
             throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, NoSuchPaddingException, InvalidKeyException,
                     InvalidAlgorithmParameterException, InvalidKeySpecException {
-        MessageDigest _digester = MessageDigest.getInstance(DIGEST_ALG);
 
-        KeySpec spec = new PBEKeySpec(pwd, salt, 310000, SPICE_SIZE * 16);
+        KeySpec spec = new PBEKeySpec(pwd, salt, PBE_ITERATIONS, SPICE_SIZE * 16);
         SecretKeyFactory factory = SecretKeyFactory.getInstance("PBKDF2WithHmacSHA1");
         byte[] keyAndIv = factory.generateSecret(spec).getEncoded();
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/DefaultPlexusCipherTest.java b/src/test/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/DefaultPlexusCipherTest.java
index cf403aa..669ac23 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/DefaultPlexusCipherTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/sonatype/plexus/components/cipher/DefaultPlexusCipherTest.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 /**
  * Test the Plexus Cipher container
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ public class DefaultPlexusCipherTest {
 
     final String str = "my testing phrase";
 
-    final String encStr = "LFulS0pAlmMHpDtm+81oPcqctcwpco5p4Fo7640/gqDRifCahXBefG4FxgKcu17v";
+    final String encStr = "cYrPoOelYU0HGlsn3nERAIyiLVVgnsn/KC5ZqeAPG0beOZCYrFwWwBTp3uyxt/yx";
 
     DefaultPlexusCipher pc;
 
@@ -138,10 +139,14 @@ public void testEncryptVariableLengths() throws Exception {
         }
     }
 
-    // -------------------------------------------------------------
-    public void testDecrypt() throws Exception {
-        String res = pc.decrypt(encStr, passPhrase);
-        assertEquals("Decryption did not produce desired result", str, res);
+    @Test
+    public void testDecrypt() {
+        try {
+            String res = pc.decrypt(encStr, passPhrase);
+            assertEquals("Decryption did not produce desired result", str, res);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            fail("Decryption failed: " + e.getMessage());
+        }
     }
 
     // -------------------------------------------------------------