best way to store user info

[Yahya Elyasse]

Hello,
I have a java standalone application in witch user is required to login .
my application needs to store user username & password , so if user run application later he is automatically authenticated with his previous stored username & password.

I stored user infos using java serialization : used a class User which i serialize to a file & save it to user hard disk. this class is each time deserialized to try authenticating user automatically.
I don't believe this serialization solution is elegant . because the serialized file could be changed or deleted by user. it is also difficult to make it a hidden file because i want my app to be cross-platform and hiding files is different across different platforms.
so i'm looking for a better & elegant way to store user login infos .
using database is not appropriate in my case.and i want these private data to be hidden andnot accessible to malicious users.
Any good ideas how to do that ?
thanks.

[Stevi Deter]

There are countless existing security frameworks out there. Start with the links in the Java Ranch Security FAQ. You might want to look at something like JAAS as a solution.