Re: Help Encrypting Connection String

I apologize for being a lazy typist. I do mean ASP.NET... does anyone still
use ASP ;)

I've seen DPAPI examples before, but many have been confusing or incomplete.
I think I found a simple straightforward example at
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.configuration.dpapiprotectedconfigurationprovider.aspx

It appears that I don't have to do anything else after encrypting my
web.config section and ASP.NET membership services will be able to read the
encrypted data without my intervention. This is what I want if that is true.

It also looks like DPAPI uses a machine specific key, so I'll need to run
the encryption code on the production box. I believe I'll have to publish
web.config unencrypted and then create an aspx (which only I have access to)
so that I can invoke the encryption code remotely.

Am I going down the right path?

Thanks

"Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]" <dbaier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote in message news:4580be6318c3868c7e20411157460@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> hi,
> you mean classic ASP??
>
> sure - you can call DPAPI via COM Interop.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
> http://www.leastprivilege.com
>
>> My main concern is the decryption side of the equation. I'm using ASP
>> membership and profiling, but I have to do it on SQL Server instead of
>> SQL Express because my Web Host does not support Express. Currently, I
>> have simply 'overridden' the LocalSqlServer connection string to point
>> to my SQL Server DB.
>>
>> Will either of the suggested encryption models support me being able
>> to proceed this way? If I'm retrieving the connection string in my own
>> code, I don't see any issues, but since ASP is utilizing the same
>> connection string under the hood for membership etc, will I be able to
>> get ASP to decrypt the connection string for it's own use?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> "Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]"
>> <dbaier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:4580be6318baa18c7e1cc57458320@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>> hi,
>>> the "best" way is to use DPAPI - because you don't have to do your
>>> own key
>>> management. There are a lot of wrappers out there, e.g.
>>> http://www.leastprivilege.com/DPAPITools.aspx
>>>
>>> the tool you are referring to is called aspnet_setreg - it uses DPAPI
>>> to encrypt the section and places it into web.config - the config
>>> file then refers to the reg key.
>>>
>>> in 2.0 you can encrypt nearly all config section out of the box using
>>> the
>>> ProtectedConfiguration provider - there you have the choice of using
>>> DPAPI
>>> or RSA keys.
>>> There are some section that you can't encrypt (basically a
>>> chicken/egg
>>> problem or section that have to be read before managed code is run) -
>>> there again you have to use aspnet_setreg.
>>> My recommendation : use DPAPI (either the wrapped API in 1.1 or
>>> protectedconfig in 2.0).
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------
>>> Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
>>> http://www.leastprivilege.com
>>>> Enterprise Library (either the June 2005 release for .NET 1.1 or the
>>>> upcoming 2.0 release for .NET 2.0) can "magically" encrypt parts of
>>>> your configuration file. You can also use the Ent Lib cryptography
>>>> block to encrypt and decrypt arbitrary strings, so that will
>>>> certainly work for what you want to do.
>>>>
>>>> Ent Lib also has a notion of a data access block that allows you to
>>>> configure connection strings with a graphical tool and encrypt the
>>>> whole section on the fly if you want. You can programmatically
>>>> retrieve connection strings defined in the configuration if you
>>>> want. Essentially, it offers are variety of ways to solve your
>>>> problem easily.
>>>>
>>>> With .NET 1.1, you need the aspnet_regiis thing to encrypt parts of
>>>> the config file, but .NET 2.0 has more options. I'm not really up
>>>> on them yet though so I can't comment on how all of that new stuff
>>>> works yet.
>>>>
>>>> Joe K.
>>>>
>>>> "FlyFishGuy" <FlyFishGuy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>> news:OnpiE8wEGHA.4036@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>
>>>>> I'm certainly OK with starting basic and becoming more aggressive
>>>>> as my level of understanding increases. I think I like hardcoding
>>>>> the key as opposed to putting it directly in web.config. I don't
>>>>> like to hardcode anything, in general, but I'd rather do that with
>>>>> an encryption key than the underlying data itself.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ivan's code is pretty straightforward, but I've had this vision
>>>>> (based on some of the articles I've seen) that I could simply
>>>>> encrypt the section in web.config and the framework would decrypt
>>>>> on-the-fly. Perhaps this is only when using the aspnet_regiis
>>>>> method or perhaps I'm just confused.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regarding the Enterprise Library, I've not heard of it before and
>>>>> I'm all about high level classes and nice GUI's. I keep discovering
>>>>> neat tools scattered about the place. It looks like 2.0 is not out
>>>>> yet, but v1.1 is supposed to be compatible. I don't have much of a
>>>>> code investment in 1.1 but I understand that many best practices
>>>>> have changed. Should I just wait for 2.0 before diving in?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks Joe
>>>>>
>>>>> "Joe Kaplan (MVP - ADSI)"
>>>>> <joseph.e.kaplan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>>> news:%23WsXSlvEGHA.1028@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>
>>>>>> The biggest decision for you here is how you want to store the
>>>>>> encryption key. If you are ok with keeping the key in plain text
>>>>>> in your web.config file or just hard-coding it in your code, then
>>>>>> this is pretty easy. That won't ward off determined hackers, but
>>>>>> it should prevent casual snooping.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For samples of simple symmetric encryption going back and forth
>>>>>> between strings (which is probably what you want), I like Ivan's
>>>>>> sample on www.dotnetthis.com. It is C#, but easy to
>>>>>> adapt/convert.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I also like the crypto capabilities in Enterprise Library for
>>>>>> doing this stuff as it makes it very simple to use and has nice
>>>>>> config support for storing the key and a nice GUI for configuring
>>>>>> all of it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Joe K.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "FlyFishGuy" <FlyFishGuy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:uouuXHvEGHA.2320@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I am trying to perform the most basic encryption of my connection
>>>>>>> string in web.config and I am totally lost. Before someone flames
>>>>>>> me for not researching before posting, let me tell you that I
>>>>>>> have read literally dozens of explanations and blogs on this and
>>>>>>> I am more confused than ever.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Every article I have read starts out with stating what a breeze
>>>>>>> this is to do, but by the time I get to the 3rd paragraph, either
>>>>>>> my head is spinning with encryption technicalities or they assume
>>>>>>> that I can run aspnet_regiis on the server. I don't host my web
>>>>>>> server, like many people, and I find this assumption obnoxious.
>>>>>>> To make matters worse, virtually every article I've read has a
>>>>>>> different methodology to perform the encryption. I understand
>>>>>>> that there are many ways to skin the same cat in .NET, but I'm
>>>>>>> looking for simple, if it exists. I never used the 2005 beta, and
>>>>>>> I'm guessing that many of these articles are referring to
>>>>>>> functionality that has subsequently changed.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm not trying to hide anything from the NSA. I simply wish to
>>>>>>> prevent
>>>>>>> some scumbag from trashing my site.
>>>>>>> If I have to spend 40 hours becoming an encryption guru before I
>>>>>>> can do
>>>>>>> this, then that's fine. I just wish that someone would be up
>>>>>>> front
>>>>>>> about
>>>>>>> this and stop stating what a snap it is. If it really is a snap
>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>> someone please provide me a link to some code that is current,
>>>>>>> accurate,
>>>>>>> and unassuming. VB is my language, but I'll certainly settle for
>>>>>>> some C#
>>>>>>> code.
>>>>>>> Thanks
>
>


.

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