Clean Up After Yourself

Clean Up After Yourself!

A number of issues have cropped up where an installation program left files lying around with either clear-text passwords or obfuscated passwords. If your installation routine must deal with passwords or other very sensitive information, check to see whether this gets left in a file once setup is complete. One strategy is to use a custom setup application to handle passwords safely, and another is to use a postinstall step to clean up the files. A problem with this approach is that sometimes a setup will be aborted sometimes with Task Manager if it is hung and postinstallation steps won't be completed. Leaving passwords lying around on the hard drive is a great way to end up with your very own CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) entry!