"CrowdStrike's findings show that 80% of all breaches use compromised identities and can take up to 250 days to identify."Crowdstrike 2024 Global Threat Report.
"Storing a plaintext password in a configuration file allows anyone who can read the file access to the password-protected resource. Developers sometimes believe that they cannot defend the application from someone who has access to the configuration, but this attitude makes an attacker's job easier. Good password management guidelines require that a password never be stored in plaintext."OWASP.
"Password management issues occur when a password is stored in plaintext in an application's properties, configuration file, or memory. Storing a plaintext password in a configuration file allows anyone who can read the file access to the password-protected resource. In some contexts, even storage of a plaintext password in memory is considered a security risk if the password is not cleared immediately after it is used."MITRE.
You simply do not need to store your passwords as plain text for service accounts and applications to use them. Windows, including Windows Server and Azure cloud, have built in facility to use passwords which are only ever encrypted.
If you want your service account passwords secured such that they are never required to be stored as plain text, Technoforge can set it up. Get in touch and see if our services are right for you.