Encoding a password
enables you to write SAS programs without having to specify a password in
plain text. The PWENCODE procedure uses encoding to disguise passwords. With
encoding, one character set is translated to another character set through
some form of table lookup. An encoded password is intended to prevent casual,
non-malicious viewing of passwords. You should not depend on encoded passwords
for all your data security needs; a determined and knowledgeable attacker
can decode the encoded passwords.
When an encoded password is used, the syntax parser decodes the password
and accesses the file. The encoded password is never written to the SAS log
in plain text. SAS doesn't accept passwords longer than eight characters.
If an encoded password is decoded and is longer than eight characters, SAS
reads it as an incorrect password and sends an error message to the SAS log.
For more information, see the PWENCODE Procedure in
Base SAS Procedures Guide.
Copyright © 2010 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.
