comparing secure strings...

i want to compare 2 user inputted secure strings

$strA = read-host -assecurestring "Enter String"
$strB = read-host -assecurestring "Re-Enter String"

if ($strA -eq $strB) { write-host "Strings Match" }
else { write-host "Strings do NOT match" }

but...the problem is that it seems to always return false =(

any suggestions?

You can convert the secure strings to plain text and do the comparison:


$strA = read-host -assecurestring "Enter String"
$strB = read-host -assecurestring "Re-Enter String"

$tmpA = [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto([Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($strA))
$tmpB = [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto([Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($strB))

$tmpA -eq $tmpB



-----
Shay Levi
$cript Fanatic
http://scriptolog.blogspot.com

I have the same question. I don't want to convert the SecureString back into
text as this defeats the purpose of the SecureString. Can this be
accomplished without using ConvertFrom-SecureString ?

On Apr 2, 4:04*pm, David Marvin
<DavidMar...@xxxxxx> wrote: If you think about it a little bit more, being able to compare secure-
strings without decrypting them also defeats the purpose ;-)

function crack-password ($secureString) {

$words = get-content dictionary.txt

foreach ($word in $words) {

$crypted = ConvertTo-SecureString $word

if ($crypted -eq $secureString) {
write-host "Password is $word"
break;
}
}
}

Of course, this imaginary function will NOT work.

Hope this clears things up, :-)

- Oisin

PowerShell MVP
http://www.nivot.org/