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Don't Cache Credentials

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Jeffrey Yu on 20 Aug 2015 21:42:25

There should be an option to not cache credentials for data sources from connections with Power BI. This is a security issue and does not go well with customers.

Comments (17)
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Felipe Marques on 06 Jul 2022 19:48:27

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

I had the same issue, but managed to solve it by marking a box in Options > Security > Authentication Browser > Use my default web browser.If the login falis, a web page will be opened to authenticate and there you can edit the credentials.

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Chris Peruski on 27 Jan 2022 18:40:08

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

My SAP HANA database allows 6 failed password attempts. Power BI needs to be smart enough to stop at the first failed attempt so that the user has the opportunity to provide the correct credentials.

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Power BI User on 10 Jul 2020 17:21:04

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

Solved by following advice from: Larry Steinle
Thank you!

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Shihan on 06 Jul 2020 00:13:54

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

This is really a security issue when sharing reports with organisation. There should be an option to not not to save credentials it self.

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Caitlin Donaldson on 06 Jul 2020 00:08:21

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

Spent hours trying to figure out why my password kept not working after using Power BI. Finally pieced it together after having to get IT to reset my password about 6 or 7 times. Looked it up online and found out that Power BI keeps hitting the database with the wrong password. Really frustrating. May have figured out the solution, but now I'm anxious to try it after having to have my password reset so many times. We have to change our password every 90 days at my company. Now I'm concerned this is something I'll have to remember and will forget when it occurs again in 3 months. I'd rather be required to enter my credentials each time I open a report in Power BI instead of possibly getting locked out of my account because I forget.

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Antony John on 06 Jul 2020 00:03:08

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

This is a major issue when password policy warrants frequent changes of passwords. Users forgot that they have changed the password. Retrying the report locks their account. Another alternative is to build an option in power Query to use connections stored in share point or power BI server.

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Power BI User on 05 Jul 2020 23:44:22

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

We are also locking accounts or inadvertently allowing someone else to log in using our credentials if we forget to clear them.

Simply adding an option to automatically clear credentials, by source, on close of desktop may do the trick.

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Power BI User on 05 Jul 2020 23:38:06

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

PowerBI Gateway needs a more sophisticated interface, affording more control to admins to flush the cache if necessary or quickly and easily upgrade all credentials when a user's password is reset (as per IT policies requiring monthly password resets). It doesn't make sense to need to update the password for every single data source used in every single report and dashboard as this is time consuming and means that for the end-users, the Business Intelligence system is effectively inoperable whilst the passwords are being reset. At present, resetting passwords via the online interface seems to not always work, so an offline interface on the Enterprise Gateway makes a lot more sense. If credentials are to be cached, a single credential should be cached for all datasets used by the analyst (e.g. a one-to-many relationship between credential and datasets. This way, the analyst would change their password once, in one place, as required, to maintain security of the system. And in 1 minute from resetting their network password, all of their dashboards and reports would be operational. If multiple credentials are stored by multiple analysts, the manager or admin could then have oversight and control of these. The Enterprise Gateway at present doesn't seem like an Enterprise grade product. Needs a lot of improvement.

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Power BI User on 05 Jul 2020 23:31:27

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

I keep getting locked out of my company's database due to failed log in attempts from my Power BI Desktop models. Including an option to require log in credentials at each refresh would eliminate this problem.

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Keith on 05 Jul 2020 23:24:36

RE: Don't Cache Credentials

I have multiple links to Oracle databases, and there is also a three-attempt lockout. It's rather frustrating to change my Oracle password, then not be able to open a Power BI file because it will always attempt to use stored credentials before allowing any option to reset/update them.