Secure APplication settings

[daimous]

hi guyz! how will i secure my application settings. Becuase my application settings contains vital information like my username, password, database name, etc.

[jmcilhinney]

What version are you using? If I had a dollar for every time I've asked that question. .NET 2.0 has native support for encrypting config files. Previous versions do not.

[daimous]

.NET 2.0.. Ok 'ill try that. Thanks!

[jmcilhinney]

The following article is geared towards ASP.NET but it can just as easily be applied to Windows applications. You need to use the "-pef" switch when invoking "aspnet_regiis" and the section on Web Farms applies to deployed Windows apps too.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...AGHT000006.asp

[daimous]

Thanks for tha link. But im also thinking to just encrypt first the data like password, username, etc. before I store it in application settings and just decrypt it when retrieve it. what you think?

[jmcilhinney]

It's up to you. The good thing about using the technique described in that article is that there's no need for you to worry about decryption in your code because that's handled for you. It would also introduce limitations though, so you'd have to weight that up against the pros. I've played with the technique described in that article but never used it in anger, so I don't know all the details.

[daimous]

ok thanks maybe i'll use the idea that i had mentioned but i'll try to go into your suggestion becuase its a new learning. thanks!!!