Eragon229

Hi. I'm new. I'm trying to use a code to make my program password protected. It keeps saying:
while password != "abcddcba":
NameError: name 'password' is not defined


Thanks.

Riddle

Insert this somewhere in your code (before this while loop starts)..

Eragon229

Thanks.

Sane

The password will be hidden in the source code, so people could easily retrieve it. Raise security by creating your own encrypt and decrypt function, then pre-compile the python file.

Cerulean

I couldn't disagree any more. String obfuscation just lulls the user into a false sense of security - much more dangerous than knowing what the risks are. You're going to have to include the code to get the file back to normal, and it doesn't take much time to go from there and retrieve the password. I suppose dynamically constructing the password string would be remotely helpful in that it will make the cracker take longer, or maybe just give up after a while.

Riddle

Bah... if he's asking this question, I think that he is most likely not scripting something which really needs this security. I mean yeah, it's dandy and all, but is it needed?

Eragon229

I'm not that advanced, just starting python. The least I can do is prevent access to the source code. How? I have no clue. I don't have to worry as long as that particular person does not have Python installed in the system. It'll open using command prompt.

Riddle

If the person does not have Python installed on the system, it will not run- unless you use py2exe. In which case you'll need to give them the python DLL with it. Some people will say that py2exe is hard to use, but it's really not.. I dunno what their deal is.

Sane

That's why I said you then precompile it. But if you precompile it without making an encrypted string, you can still find the password inside the compiled file. At least if you encrypt it they'll have to guess how you did it, or find whatever thing is used to decompile python files.

He said he's new to Python, so that would probably be the easiest way for him.

Eragon229

Is there anyway to apply or open a Python program sent or found without having Python in the computer system or would you have to change the file type? I just need a simple answer so I know if it's possible in the future.