Obfuscate your DAD file

Your DAD file, which is basically a clear text file, includes the name and password APEX uses to connect to the database. A typical entry will look similar to the following:

PlsqlDatabaseUsername APEX_PUBLIC_USER
plsqlDatabasePassword apex1234

This is a serious breach of security. You should at least obfuscate the APEX password, and a very simple way of doing it is to use the dadobf.exe utility, which should be available on the same directory as your DAD file. The utility accepts the password as the parameter and returns its obfuscated value, as can be seen in the following screenshot from a Windows CMD window:

Now you should copy the obfuscated value into your DAD file and restart the OHS.