O Great Monks,

I hope nobody'll be offended by my posting a windows-specific question. I know *nix is the Truth and the Way and the Light, but I'm sort of stuck here in purgatory, bear with me. :-)

I need to connect to a secure SQL Server database using Perl DBI. I need to find a way to authenticate the user securely (without fear of eavesdropping, and without storing passwords on the client side). I'm using SQL Server 2008 on Windows Server 2008, and Perl 5.10 on XP.

SQL Server supports encrypted connections via something called the "SQL Server Native Access Client API", but I cannot tell whether this is supported by any DBD driver, or how to use it if it is.

I am reluctant to use the DBD::ODBC driver with SQL Server authentication, because ODBC transmits user IDs and passwords in cleartext.

I can't use the DBD::ODBC driver with Windows authentication (trusted connection), because the server is not on any Active Directory domain that is accessible from the client's network.

How can I secure my connections to the database? This can't possibly be a wheel that I need to invent myself. Thanks.

In reply to Secure connection to SQL Server from Perl DBI by Sue D. Nymme

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