From: Kent Dahl <kentda@...>
Date: 2002-02-03T00:35:47+09:00
Subject: Re: Hiding net library passwords

Bil Kleb wrote:
> This is only for controlling some local network power switches
> so I don't need anything extremely secure, just something better
> than sticking a clear-text password in the script file and
> relying on the file permissions to protect it...

Are you the only one running the script, or are others supposed to be
allowed to do it?

If the latter:
Relying on the file permissions won't help much either (since running
the script will require read access)
	What I did in a similar situation, was to have the script be only
readable by me, and then use a compiled wrapper program that was SUID.

If the former:
Unless you want to pass some other key in to your program, (which then
would decode the encrypted password), I don't see much other choices
than some simple "obfuscation", such as ROT13 encoding...

Then again, using telnet to begin with seems like a bigger security risk
than having the password in clear-text :-)

-- 
<[ Kent Dahl ]>================<[ http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~kentda/ ]>
  )__(stud.techn.;  ind. econ & management: computer technology)__( 
 /"Opinions expressed are mine and not those of my Employer,      "\
( "the University, my girlfriend, stray cats, banana fruitflies,  " )
 \"nor the frontal lobe of my left cerebral hemisphere.           "/