Encrypting an ASP.NET web application connection strings by directory
To encrypt an ASP.NET application’s connection strings?by the path of the application, navigate to the .NET framework folder ?%windows%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\versionNumber Open the command prompt as administrator and point to the .Net directory and run the command ASPNET_REGIIS -pef “connectionStrings” “C:\Inetpub\<Application Folder>” (Point to the directory not the web.config file) If successful the following should be displayed.