Suggestions on storing mail passwords safely

[Karthik Shiraly]

Hi,

A distributable desktop app that uses javamail has to store email account usernames and passwords, so that user doesn't have to login every time (similar to typical email clients like thunderbird and outlook).
What's a good way to store these credentials on user machines?
I'm thinking of using PKI keypair, with a private key generated on installation. But this just shifts the problem to - where to store this private key so that a malicious program can't access it. Probably I should store it in a keystore.

Or should I use something different, like OAuth?

Any suggestions? Or any idea how typical email clients store passwords?

Thanks
Karthik