What does the service password-encryption command do on Cisco devices?

What does the service password-encryption command do on Cisco devices?

• A. It encrypts passwords that are stored in router or switch configuration files.
• B. It encrypts passwords during user login only.
• C. It changes passwords to uppercase for visibility.
• D. It logs password attempts without encryption.

Answer: (A)

Passwords in a Cisco device’s configuration are often readable in plain text. Turning on this feature hides those passwords by applying a simple, reversible encoding (Type 7) to any plaintext passwords stored in the running or startup configuration. This includes passwords for line access (like console and VTY) and the enable password. It does not affect how you log in, nor does it influence enable secret (which uses hashing) or change passwords to uppercase. It’s a convenience to keep casual viewers from seeing the actual strings, but it isn’t strong security since the encoding can be reversed.

Passwords in a Cisco device’s configuration are often readable in plain text. Turning on this feature hides those passwords by applying a simple, reversible encoding (Type 7) to any plaintext passwords stored in the running or startup configuration. This includes passwords for line access (like console and VTY) and the enable password. It does not affect how you log in, nor does it influence enable secret (which uses hashing) or change passwords to uppercase. It’s a convenience to keep casual viewers from seeing the actual strings, but it isn’t strong security since the encoding can be reversed.