diff --git a/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/main/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper.java b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/main/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..826660f00f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/main/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2010, Sebastian Sdorra
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+ * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+ *
+ * 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
+ *    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ * 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
+ *    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
+ *    and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+ * 3. Neither the name of SCM-Manager; nor the names of its
+ *    contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
+ *    software without specific prior written permission.
+ *
+ * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
+ * AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
+ * IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
+ * DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
+ * DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
+ * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
+ * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
+ * ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+ * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
+ * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+ *
+ * http://bitbucket.org/sdorra/scm-manager
+ *
+ */
+
+
+package sonia.scm.cli.config;
+
+import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
+import com.google.common.base.Strings;
+import com.google.common.io.BaseEncoding;
+
+import javax.crypto.BadPaddingException;
+import javax.crypto.Cipher;
+import javax.crypto.IllegalBlockSizeException;
+import javax.crypto.NoSuchPaddingException;
+import javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec;
+import java.security.InvalidKeyException;
+import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
+import java.security.SecureRandom;
+
+/**
+ * The EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper is a wrapper around the {@link KeyStore} interface. The wrapper will encrypt the passed
+ * keys, before they are written to the underlying {@link KeyStore} implementation. The wrapper will also honor old
+ * unencrypted keys.
+ *
+ * @author Sebastian Sdorra
+ * @since 1.60
+ */
+public class EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper implements KeyStore {
+
+  private static final String ALGORITHM = "AES";
+
+  private static final SecureRandom random = new SecureRandom();
+
+  // i know storing the key directly in the class is far away from a best practice, but this is a chicken egg type
+  // of problem. We need a key to encrypt the stored keys, however encrypting the keys with a static defined key
+  // is better as storing them as plain text.
+  private static final byte[] SECRET_KEY = new byte[]{  0x50, 0x61, 0x41, 0x67, 0x55, 0x43, 0x48, 0x7a, 0x48, 0x59,
+    0x7a, 0x57, 0x6b, 0x34, 0x54, 0x62
+  };
+
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  static final String ENCRYPTED_PREFIX = "enc:";
+
+  private KeyStore wrappedKeyStore;
+
+  EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper(KeyStore wrappedKeyStore) {
+    this.wrappedKeyStore = wrappedKeyStore;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public void set(String secretKey) {
+    String encrypted = encrypt(secretKey);
+    wrappedKeyStore.set(ENCRYPTED_PREFIX.concat(encrypted));
+  }
+
+  private String encrypt(String value) {
+    try {
+      Cipher cipher = createCipher(Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE);
+      byte[] raw = cipher.doFinal(value.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8));
+      return encode(raw);
+    } catch (IllegalBlockSizeException | BadPaddingException ex) {
+      throw new ScmConfigException("failed to encrypt key", ex);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private String encode(byte[] raw) {
+    return BaseEncoding.base64().encode(raw);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String get() {
+    String value = wrappedKeyStore.get();
+    if (Strings.nullToEmpty(value).startsWith(ENCRYPTED_PREFIX)) {
+      String encrypted = value.substring(ENCRYPTED_PREFIX.length());
+      return decrypt(encrypted);
+    }
+    return value;
+  }
+
+  private String decrypt(String encoded) {
+    try {
+      Cipher cipher = createCipher(Cipher.DECRYPT_MODE);
+      byte[] raw = decode(encoded);
+      return new String(cipher.doFinal(raw), Charsets.UTF_8);
+    } catch (IllegalBlockSizeException | BadPaddingException ex) {
+      throw new ScmConfigException("failed to decrypt key", ex);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private byte[] decode(String encoded) {
+    return BaseEncoding.base64().decode(encoded);
+  }
+
+  private Cipher createCipher(int mode) {
+    try {
+      Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance(ALGORITHM);
+      SecretKeySpec secretKeySpec = new SecretKeySpec(SECRET_KEY, "AES");
+      cipher.init(mode, secretKeySpec, random);
+      return cipher;
+    } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException | NoSuchPaddingException | InvalidKeyException ex) {
+      throw new ScmConfigException("failed to create key", ex);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public void remove() {
+    wrappedKeyStore.remove();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/main/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandler.java b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/main/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandler.java
index 00a0eb6cf6..78efd5f149 100644
--- a/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/main/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandler.java
+++ b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/main/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandler.java
@@ -62,11 +62,11 @@ public class ScmClientConfigFileHandler
 
 
   /**
-   * Constructs a new ScmClientConfigFileHandler
-   *
+   * Constructs a new ScmClientConfigFileHandler with a encrypted {@link java.util.prefs.Preferences} based
+   * {@link KeyStore} and a determined default location.
    */
   public ScmClientConfigFileHandler() {
-    this(new PrefsKeyStore(), getDefaultConfigFile());
+    this(new EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper(new PrefsKeyStore()), getDefaultConfigFile());
   }
 
   ScmClientConfigFileHandler(KeyStore keyStore,File file) {
diff --git a/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/test/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/EncryptionKeyStoreWrapperTest.java b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/test/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/EncryptionKeyStoreWrapperTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0a77c9d772
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/test/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/EncryptionKeyStoreWrapperTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2010, Sebastian Sdorra
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+ * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+ *
+ * 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
+ *    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ * 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
+ *    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
+ *    and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+ * 3. Neither the name of SCM-Manager; nor the names of its
+ *    contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
+ *    software without specific prior written permission.
+ *
+ * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
+ * AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
+ * IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
+ * DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
+ * DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
+ * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
+ * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
+ * ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+ * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
+ * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+ *
+ * http://bitbucket.org/sdorra/scm-manager
+ *
+ */
+
+
+
+package sonia.scm.cli.config;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+public class EncryptionKeyStoreWrapperTest {
+
+  private KeyStore keyStore = new InMemoryKeyStore();
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEncryptionKeyStoreWrapper() {
+    EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper wrapper = new EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper(keyStore);
+    wrapper.set("mysecretkey");
+
+    assertEquals("mysecretkey", wrapper.get());
+    assertTrue(keyStore.get().startsWith(EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper.ENCRYPTED_PREFIX));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEncryptionKeyStoreWrapperWithOldUnencryptedKey() {
+    keyStore.set("mysecretkey");
+    EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper wrapper = new EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper(keyStore);
+    assertEquals("mysecretkey", wrapper.get());
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/test/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandlerTest.java b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/test/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandlerTest.java
index a9f6a46418..f7dfc36deb 100644
--- a/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/test/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandlerTest.java
+++ b/scm-clients/scm-cli-client/src/test/java/sonia/scm/cli/config/ScmClientConfigFileHandlerTest.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public class ScmClientConfigFileHandlerTest {
     File configFile = temporaryFolder.newFile();
 
     ScmClientConfigFileHandler handler = new ScmClientConfigFileHandler(
-      new InMemoryKeyStore(), configFile
+      new EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper(new InMemoryKeyStore()), configFile
     );
 
     ScmClientConfig config = new ScmClientConfig();
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public class ScmClientConfigFileHandlerTest {
 
     assertFalse(ConfigFiles.isFormatV2(configFile));
 
-    KeyStore keyStore = new InMemoryKeyStore();
+    KeyStore keyStore = new EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper(new InMemoryKeyStore());
     keyStore.set(key);
 
     ScmClientConfigFileHandler handler = new ScmClientConfigFileHandler(
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public class ScmClientConfigFileHandlerTest {
     Files.write(bytes, configFile);
 
     String key = "358e018a-0c3c-4339-8266-3874e597305f";
-    KeyStore keyStore = new InMemoryKeyStore();
+    KeyStore keyStore = new EncryptionKeyStoreWrapper(new InMemoryKeyStore());
     keyStore.set(key);
 
     ScmClientConfigFileHandler handler = new ScmClientConfigFileHandler(