$page->title = 'Passwords'; require('template.inc.php'); <p>Gaim
does
not
now
and
is
not
likely
to
encrypt
the
passwords
in
the
<code>accounts.xml
</code> file,
nor
is
it
likely
to
be
encrypted
in
a
future
release.
This
is
somewhat
controversial
in
Windows,
especially
Windows
98
due
to
its
weak
file
protections,
but
that's
the
way
things
are.
</p><p>The
reasoning
for
this
is
multi-part.
</p> <p>Instant
messaging
is
not
very
secure,
and
it's
kind
of
pointless
to
spend
a
lot
of
time
adding
protections
onto
the
fairly
strong
file
protections
of
UNIX
(our
native
platform)
when
the
protocols
themselves
aren't
all
that
secure.
The
way
to
truly
know
who
you
are
talking
to
is
to
use
an
encryption
plugin
on
both
ends
(such
as
gaim-e
or
gaim-encryption),
and
use
verified
GPG
keys.
Secondly,
you
shouldn't
be
using
your
instant
messaging
password
for
anything
else.
While
some
protocols
have
decent
password
security,
others
are
insufficient
and
some
(like
IRC)
don't
have
any
at
all.
</p><p>There
are
basically
four
approaches
to
password
storage.
</p> <li><b>Store
a
password(s)
behind
a
password.
</b> Basically
this
means
that
we
require
you
to
type
in
some
passphrase
as
Gaim
starts
in
order
to
read
the
<code>accounts.xml
</code> file,
and,
to
be
truely
secure,
require
you
to
type
it
again
if
you
write
to
it.
Winicq
does
something
very
similar
to
this
if
you
set
it
to
its
highest
security
settings.
</li><li><b>Obscure
a
password.
</b> This
means
we
do
something
to
store
the
password
in
some
format
other
than
plain
text,
but
we
automatically
convert
it
for
you.
This
is
security
by
obscurity,
and
is
a
Very
Bad
Thing
™ in
that
it
gives
users
a
false
sense
of
security.
A
false
sense
that
we
(Gaim
developers)
believe
would
be
worse
to
have
than
to
let
informed
users
deal
with
the
password
issue
themselves.
Consider
that
a
naive
user
might
think
that
it
is
safe
to
share
his
or
her
accounts.xml,
because
the
passwords
are
"encrypted".
</li><li><b>Store
the
password
in
plain
text
and
control
access
to
the
file.
</b> This
is
what
Gaim
does:
the
password
is
in
<code>accounts.xml
</code> in
plain
text,
but
the
file
itself
is
only
readable
by
its
owner.
We
allow
the
user
to
determine
under
what
conditions
sensitive
files
should
be
opened
(if
at
all),
and
what
constitutes
a
breach
of
security.
</li><li><b>Lastly,
you
can
not
store
passwords
at
all.
</b> This
is
Gaim's
default,
and
by
far
the
most
secure
of
all
of
the
options.
</li><p>If
you
really
wanted
to,
you
could
write
a
script
to
wrap
Gaim
that
would
decrypt
<code>accounts.xml
</code> and
re-encrypt
it
when
Gaim
exits.
You
wouldn't
be
able
to
encrypt
it
while
Gaim
is
running,
because
Gaim
writes
to
<code>accounts.xml
</code> for
things
like
info
change.
This
would
minimize
your
exposure
time
unless
(like
me)
you
run
Gaim
nearly
24/7.
Personally,
I
feel
that
on
any
decent
operating
system,
if
someone
can
get
to
your
files
you
should
either
be
able
to
trust
the
person
to
not
touch
them,
or
you
shouldn't
be
storing
sensitive
information
there
at
all.
</p>
