Access passowrd protect shared folder through C#

Question

5.00/5 (1 vote)

See more:

Hi
I would like to know if there is any particular way to access a database which is stored in a shared-password-protected folder. I would like to access the folder by providing the username and password in the program itself.

The solution in either C# or VB6 (if possible) would be really the best thing...

Thank you

AJ

Posted 5-Apr-11 9:27am

ankitjoshi24

Add a Solution

2 solutions

Solution 2

If you're in a Windows environment the access privileges should be handled via Active Directory. As SA pointed out, no reason to store passwords or user names in programs.

Also another thing. Is the database Access? If not and it's for example SQL Server then you don't need (or to be precise you must not have) access to the folders containing the database.

Posted 5-Apr-11 9:44am

Wendelius

Comments

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 15:46pm

I am in Windows environment and yes the access privileges are handled. But I was just wondering if it is possible to get through a password protected folder.

The database is of no concern to me right now. I am able to access to through any password protected database like MS Access or SQL

It doesn't matter, I just wanted to get through a password protected folder.

Wendelius 5-Apr-11 15:56pm

If I understood your question correctly, hopefully not. If there would be a hole in the security system I'd bet there would be quite a lot of angry IT people :)

What I meant with the database question was that only in Access (and few other legacy products) you need the actual privilege to modify the database file. In all real database server you don't even know the files nor do you see them.

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 16:01pm

You got it to a certain extent but you confused me a little bit :|

The security thing is of a less concern currently. The database being used is MS Access and yes, I have set the appropriate privileges for it.

Dave Kreskowiak 5-Apr-11 15:56pm

Considering Windows natively have password protected folders in a domain environment, how this is being accomplished will directly dictate if it's possible to do by code and what you have to do, if anything.

Windows does support treating .ZIP files as a folder, even password protected ZIPs, but you do not get a username prompt, only a password.

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 16:00pm

I am trying to access the folder over LAN and in LAN (for Windows environment), when you try to access a folder shared by another computer, you need username and password to access that folder. That's why I asked the question.

Dave Kreskowiak 5-Apr-11 17:06pm

OK. Though, having a network share that is outside of the domain is a security risk. Also, hard-coding the username and password to a "secured" resource is itself a security risk, As is storing said credentials in a file, unencrypted.

In any case, to authenticate to a remote computer, you create a connection to it using the Win32 function WNetAddConnection2. You can find the docs on it at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa385413(v=vs.85).aspx.

ankitjoshi24 6-Apr-11 10:21am

Hey

Thanks for the link. I have read the link and I think that could be useful for my solution. Appreciate you effort.

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-05T09:30:00

Solution 1

If it would be possible, it would be a very weak protection. Nobody in clear mind won't store non-ciphered passwords anywhere — they are never needed for authentication.

[EDIT]
To understand how to store authentication (it that is what your second question is about), learn Assymetric ciphering: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assymetric_key_cryptography[^], as well as RSA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA[^]. It will give you a good idea. Why RSA? One reason is: it is fully implemented in .NET, see System.Security.Cryptography.RSA.

—SA

Posted 5-Apr-11 9:30am

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Updated 5-Apr-11 9:41am

v2

Comments

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 15:34pm

Thanx for the help SA so you mean that this is not possible at all????

Or do you have any suggestions which I could use to do something similar and keep my database protected???

Thanx again.

--
AJ

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 15:43pm

Yes, I think it is impossible in principle, unless you want to go in for password cracking which may require enormous resources.

As to the second part of your follow-up question -- please see my updated Answer.
--SA

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 15:44pm

I will go through the links. Thanx

--
AJ

Gonzoox 5-Apr-11 15:44pm

Let me try to understand this, first what kind of database? if it's SQL Server, Oracle or something similar why not use the security it has built in, even with access you can create a security file for it to limit who can access it

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 15:56pm

Hey

The database is of no concern, I just want to get through the password-protected-shared folder using either C# or VB6

I have used the access control which is the built-in feature of Windows OS but just that since the folder would be accessed through the network and would required username and password to be accessed, so I was wondering to find a way to do that through the program

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 15:58pm

If you read the article via the above references you will immediately get the idea -- the explanation is very good. You will be able to apply the story happened between Alice and Bob for authentication, I hope. :-)
--SA

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 16:04pm

haha I am going through the articles and would try and apply the Alice & Bob type authentication :-)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 16:08pm

Maybe not one-to-one.
--SA

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 15:56pm

This is a valid option, of course. I'm simply answering about security in general.
--SA

Wendelius 5-Apr-11 15:46pm

Good answer, 5.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 15:55pm

Thank you, Mika.
--SA

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 15:53pm

5 for u

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 15:55pm

Thank you very much.
Don't you think you can formally accept my Answer then?
--SA

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 15:57pm

sure will accept it.....

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 16:05pm

Thank you.
--SA

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 16:07pm

If you have some follow-up Questions, you're welcome. But you need to understand the idea very well first. Then, some exercise with RSA class (key pair generation and use for ciphering/deciphering of some small piece of data) will also be helpful.

Good luck.
--SA

ankitjoshi24 5-Apr-11 16:11pm

Mmmm hmmmm

If anything problem will surely post here. I have already read the RSA and Publick-key stuff so this is a good way to refresh everything.

Thanx

--
AJ

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 5-Apr-11 16:14pm

Good luck.
--SA

ankitjoshi24 6-Apr-11 10:23am

I kinda tried doing that RSA stuff........ And it seems that it was helpful to atleast clear my funda of RSA and other cryptographic algorithms.

BTW, I was wondering if anyone did like my question? :-)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 6-Apr-11 16:34pm

I don't know. I up-vote only most interesting answers or the ones with some vise (or simply original idea). Sorry, this is not your case. Yours was based on a wrong idea of storage password. At the same time, simple logical reasoning (before you know anything about Assymetric or any other ciphering) could lead you to the idea the passwords do not need to be stored. That's why I did not vote.

Thank you for accepting my Answer.
Good luck.
--SA