Use SecureString?

Question

Hello,

I found about SecureString and I'm using these 2 in my application:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.security.cryptography.x509certificates.x509certificate2.-ctor?view=netframework-4.0#system-security-cryptography-x509certificates-x509certificate2-ctor(system-string-system-security-securestring)

and

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.net.networkcredential.-ctor?view=net-8.0#system-net-networkcredential-ctor(system-string-system-security-securestring)

Shall I use SecureString instead of String?

Both have important note: This API is not CLS-compliant.

No idea if not CLS-compliant will affect GUI only WinForms App (vb.net) ?

Thanks :)

Answer 1

Hi @Peter Volz ,

1. If you're developing a WinForms application in VB.NET and you're not planning to interact with components developed in other languages that rely on CLS compliance, then the lack of CLS compliance might not directly affect your GUI.
2. Using SecureString for sensitive data handling is a recommended practice for enhancing security.

Best Regards.

Jiachen Li

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