COMMAND

    ODBC/MDAC

SYSTEMS AFFECTED

    WinNT

PROBLEM

    Veiled Aspect  found following.   Create a  data link  for OLE  DB
    provider  database  connections  &  you'll  see that MS stores the
    password for your database acct.  in clear text in the  .udl file.
    Double-clicking the file opens  it with asterisks in  the password
    field, but just open it in notepad for all the world to see.  It's
    fine if you use Windows  NT integrated security.  Data  links have
    been around since ADO 2.0.

SOLUTION

    Sounds  like  MDAC  2.1  is  the  solution  for  this problem.  It
    provides the ability to enable or disable saving of the  password.
    If password saving is enabled,  a dialogue appears each time  that
    the password is saved, reminding the user that this is being done.
    The registry key that governs this functionality is:

        HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2206CDB2-19C1-11D1-89E0-00C04FD7A829}\fDPS

    Setting the value to a DWORD of 1 disables password saving.