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Ilario Grijalva
I'm a Lastpass user and many times I thought about switching to the Credential Manager, for auto sync and a certain comfort with the windows environment. The only thing that I'm worried about is its security. I heard that it's quite easy for someone to access these credentials once they've gained access to your computer, is it so?
The Windows Credential Manager is anything but secure. It's "secure" at the user account level, which means that any process that the user ever runs and the user themselves must necessarily be trusted in order to call this system "secure" with a straight face.
The only semi secure way of using the Windows Credential Manager is to store values pre-hashed, then verify those hashes. However, since any elevated process the user runs has full read/write capability on that user's credential store, it simply can't be trusted at all.
Lets think about "secure" in the sense of locking an application locally. Let's take the example of a content filter that locks the settings page to keep the kids from enabling adult content, using the Credential Manager to store custom credentials. The same user, trying to bypass this, can do so easily. A user can visit the Credential Manager in the Control Panel and, though the values show up in asterisks, (*****), they can simply erase the value and replace it. Delete your hash, put in their own they're in.
What's even sillier is that the Control Panel will show asterisks, but if you use code accessing the applicable APIs, you can get the values in plain text. So passwords are not safe, hashes and such you verify to lock something are not safe. It's not safe, it's a piece of garbage and I've struggled for a long time to understand its usefulness, except for Microsoft to apparently have plain text copies of all of your passwords they can sell to the NSA.
Note
I realize there are measures you can take to encrypt contents before storing them, hashing them correctly etc, but my criticism still applies because doing these additional things is creating security, not the Windows Credential Manager. My problem with the Windows Credential Manager is that it advertises that using it through its provided GUI and or API is secure.
In my WPF application I want to allow administrators to test a database connection using integrated security for various other users. So I have a form that allows the admin to enter the domain, username and password and then test it. I am able to securely handle the password right up until I call LogonUser in the advapi32.dll which takes a string password
Since the signature for LogonUser takes a string, unless LogonUser is taking proper care of the password in its execution, it could still be on my call stack in plain text after the call returns. Is there a more secure way to impersonate a user in which i can be confidant the PW is secure the whole time?
Just before you pinvoke into LogonUser you are then passing the unmanaged copy ofthe SecureString password. You use the Marshal.SecureStringToGlobalAllocUnicode Method for this. Thus there is never a managed object in your app domain representing the password.
If you require even more security I would suggest to disallow direct database connection from you wpf clients. You can introduce a middle tier. Security is thus shifted away from the clients to this one server. Communication between Client and App-Server is encrypted and only the app server talks to the database.
If he's not, you'll have to provide a password to LogonUser. And this password will have to reside at least a small amount of time, as is, in memory because that's the way LogonUser is defined. Note not all auth packages require passwords (like biometrics or smart card: Windows Authentication Overview).
So if you really want impersonation, somewhere you'll have to pass a password around. In this case make sure you use postlagerkarte's code from Microsoft for this: Marshal.SecureStringToGlobalAllocUnicode Method sample code
So how this would work, is when an Administrator inserts the credentials you would decrypt the app.config modify the key/value with the new credentials. Then once it is inserted it encrypts the config file again.
Personally, I wouldn't do it. If you have ever run a PC with ZoneAlarm (I'm thinking back to 2002 on a Windows 2000 box with an ADSL modem) and watched the alerts as all and sundry knocks on your PC's door then you'll understand why. Cisco and Juniper firewalls start from about 300 / $500 new, or you could get a low spec box and install smoothwall or similar. If you are putting the server up at a colo you should be able to get another 1U rack space for the firewall (and a power socket) for a fraction of the 1st U of rackspace.
The first I would do, if possible, is unplug the network cable, do all the secure steps, especially apply all hotfix/server packs, turn on software firewalls, and then plug the network cable back. un-secured boxes only last about half an hour in the wild, especially windows boxes.
By "without a firewall", I'm assuming you mean "without an external firewall" - the firewall on the server should be very definitely on, and set up only to expose the services that you need to be exposed to the Internet - you didn't mention what these are, but from the tags, I'm guessing that SFTP is involved.
If you absolutely have to have (ordinary) FTP, you should look at securing that further as well - limit IP addresses that can connect to your FTP service, do it over SSL, or use SFTP instead. OpenSSH )as optician mentioned) comes with an SFTP service.
As well as security I would also recommend putting some good monitoring in place. At the very least you should be monitoring process activity, CPU and memory usage, and network activity (I'm sure others would add more to the list).
Many of these options also apartment security, as renters may not be able to permanently add locks or upgrade their windows. Some types of wedge locks simply slide between the sashes with no hardware, and dowels can easily be cut to prevent double-hung and sliding windows from opening in rental units.
Once the unit is secured, the window will need to be fixed in place with the sash tightly pressing down on the top of the unit. This can be achieved by using small L-brackets screwed into the top sash to keep the bottom sash from being opened, or by inserting dowels cut to the proper length in between the bottom sash and the top of the window frame.
One caution: If the windows are double-paned with gas between the panes for insulation, homeowners will want to use caution when screwing into the sashes. If the screws punch through the window too close to the panes of glass, they can rupture the seal on the gas pockets, causing the window to develop condensation between the panes.
Taking these steps will make it harder and noisier for a criminal to break in through the windows. However, one of the best home security systems (such as one from Vivint, ADT, or SimpliSafe) can both deter potential intruders and capture useful information for law enforcement if an intruder boldly continues their approach despite many reasons not to. Visible cameras, motion-detector lights and alarms, door and window sensor alarms, and glass-break sensors can deter criminals before and during a crime. They can also alert residents immediately, buying them precious time to get to safety and call for help.
Meghan Wentland joined the Bob Vila team as a writer and editor in the home finance, home security, and home improvement spaces in 2020. She is also a professor of writing and literature, where she spends her time teaching students to think critically and look for clarity.
Is this a concern? No. For someone to exploit this, he would have to have malware on your machine capable of reading data from the clipboard. If he has the capability of getting malware on your machine, you have much bigger things to worry about as there are plenty of other stuff he can do, including keyloggers and the like.
There are also users that may accidentally or on purpose reveal the content of the clipboard after getting physical access to the computer. Of course, then they can do a lot of harm anyway, but getting the actual password (and not just access to websites/programs) is hard (unless you have it in the clipboard...)
So either make sure the clipboard is cleaned (and this is not 100% reliable as some applications again allow to retrieve old clipboard values) or use some kind of encryption (this is not trivial, but even easy one will protect from accidental password leak)
As everyone agrees, the clipboard is generally insecure. Thus, the followup question is obvious: how to get complex passwords/passphrases from a password manager into where they're needed, without exposing them along the way.
Look for a password manager that has an option to "type your password into the next window you click on" or similar. I don't know of any examples, because I'm not that paranoid about most passwords. (And I actually memorize the very few high-security passwords I use, like my GPG private key.)
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Did you know that about 1/3 of would-be burglars use an open window or door to walk right into your home? [1] Because windows are often left unlocked or not properly reinforced, they can be vulnerable spots in many homes.
On the other hand, motion-detecting sensors sense movement and signal your security system if an alarm event triggers the system. Once that happens, an alert is sent to your phone and the monitoring centers.
Window security bars are used in residential homes and commercial properties as a burglar deterrent because of their quality construction and versatile designs. They add enhanced security and protection against unwanted intruders and additional defense for small children and pets.
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