diff --git a/activemq-console/pom.xml b/activemq-console/pom.xml
index ded9dabe09..e43fdab635 100644
--- a/activemq-console/pom.xml
+++ b/activemq-console/pom.xml
@@ -118,6 +118,14 @@
       <groupId>net.sf.josql</groupId>
       <artifactId>gentlyweb-utils</artifactId>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.jasypt</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jasypt</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>com.ibm.icu</groupId>
+      <artifactId>icu4j</artifactId>
+    </dependency>  
   </dependencies>
 
   <build>
diff --git a/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/DecryptCommand.java b/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/DecryptCommand.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2bff397825
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/DecryptCommand.java
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.activemq.console.command;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.jasypt.exceptions.EncryptionOperationNotPossibleException;
+
+public class DecryptCommand extends EncryptCommand {
+
+    protected String[] helpFile = new String[] {
+            "Task Usage: Main decrypt --password <password> --input <input>",
+            "Description: Decrypts given text.",
+            "", 
+            "Encrypt Options:",
+            "    --password <password>      Password to be used by the encryptor.",
+            "    --input <input>            Text to be encrypted.",
+            "    --version                  Display the version information.",
+            "    -h,-?,--help               Display the stop broker help information.",
+            ""
+        };    
+    
+    @Override
+    protected void runTask(List<String> tokens) throws Exception {
+        if (password == null || input == null) {
+            context.printException(new IllegalArgumentException("input and password parameters are mandatory"));
+            return;
+        }
+        encryptor.setPassword(password);
+        try {
+            context.print("Decrypted text: " + encryptor.decrypt(input));
+        } catch (EncryptionOperationNotPossibleException e) {
+            context.print("ERROR: Text cannot be decrypted, check your input and password and try again!");
+        }
+    }
+
+    
+    
+}
diff --git a/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/EncryptCommand.java b/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/EncryptCommand.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d3d81fd18c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/EncryptCommand.java
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.activemq.console.command;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.jasypt.encryption.pbe.StandardPBEStringEncryptor;
+
+public class EncryptCommand extends AbstractCommand {
+
+    protected String[] helpFile = new String[] {
+            "Task Usage: Main encrypt --password <password> --input <input>",
+            "Description: Encrypts given text.",
+            "", 
+            "Encrypt Options:",
+            "    --password <password>      Password to be used by the encryptor.",
+            "    --input <input>            Text to be encrypted.",
+            "    --version                  Display the version information.",
+            "    -h,-?,--help               Display the stop broker help information.",
+            ""
+        };
+    
+    StandardPBEStringEncryptor encryptor = new StandardPBEStringEncryptor();
+    String input;
+    String password;
+    
+    @Override
+    protected void printHelp() {
+        context.printHelp(helpFile);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void runTask(List<String> tokens) throws Exception {
+        if (password == null || input == null) {
+            context.printException(new IllegalArgumentException("input and password parameters are mandatory"));
+            return;
+        }
+        encryptor.setPassword(password);
+        context.print("Encrypted text: " + encryptor.encrypt(input));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void handleOption(String token, List<String> tokens) throws Exception {
+        if (token.startsWith("--input")) {
+            if (tokens.isEmpty() || ((String)tokens.get(0)).startsWith("-")) {
+                context.printException(new IllegalArgumentException("input not specified"));
+                return;
+            }
+
+            input=(String)tokens.remove(0);
+        } else if (token.startsWith("--password")) {
+            if (tokens.isEmpty() || ((String)tokens.get(0)).startsWith("-")) {
+                context.printException(new IllegalArgumentException("password not specified"));
+                return;
+            }
+
+            password=(String)tokens.remove(0);            
+        } else {
+            super.handleOption(token, tokens);
+        }
+    }
+    
+    
+
+}
diff --git a/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/ShellCommand.java b/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/ShellCommand.java
index d760ceebfc..c4a15d1dc4 100644
--- a/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/ShellCommand.java
+++ b/activemq-console/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/console/command/ShellCommand.java
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ public class ShellCommand extends AbstractCommand {
             "    browse          - Display selected messages in a specified destination.",
             "    journal-audit   - Allows you to view records stored in the persistent journal.",
             "    purge           - Delete selected destination's messages that matches the message selector",
+            "    encrypt         - Encrypts given text",
+            "    decrypt         - Decrypts given text",
             "",
             "Task Options (Options specific to each task):",
             "    --extdir <dir>  - Add the jar files in the directory to the classpath.",
@@ -126,6 +128,10 @@ public class ShellCommand extends AbstractCommand {
                 command = new PurgeCommand();
             } else if (taskToken.equals("journal-audit")) {
                 command = new AMQJournalToolCommand();
+            } else if (taskToken.equals("encrypt")) {
+                command = new EncryptCommand();
+            } else if (taskToken.equals("decrypt")) {
+                command = new DecryptCommand();
             } else if (taskToken.equals("help")) {
                 printHelp();
             } else {
diff --git a/activemq-core/pom.xml b/activemq-core/pom.xml
index 8816a6bf28..c435825d5c 100755
--- a/activemq-core/pom.xml
+++ b/activemq-core/pom.xml
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@
         <groupId>org.codehaus.jettison</groupId>
         <artifactId>jettison</artifactId>
         <optional>true</optional>
-    </dependency>       
+    </dependency>
 
     <!-- for XML parsing -->
     <dependency>
@@ -229,6 +229,15 @@
       <artifactId>activemq-jmdns_1.0</artifactId>
       <optional>true</optional>
     </dependency>
+    
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.jasypt</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jasypt</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>com.ibm.icu</groupId>
+      <artifactId>icu4j</artifactId>
+    </dependency> 
 
     <!-- database testing -->
     <dependency>
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/test/resources/credentials.properties b/activemq-core/src/test/resources/credentials.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..86f719940f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activemq-core/src/test/resources/credentials.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+## ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+## Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+## contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+## this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+## The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+## (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+## the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+## 
+## http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+## 
+## Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+## distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+## WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+## See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+## limitations under the License.
+## ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# Defines credentials that will be used by components (like web console) to access the broker
+
+activemq.username=system
+#activemq.password=manager
+activemq.password=ENC(mYRkg+4Q4hua1kvpCCI2hg==)
+#guest.password=password
+guest.password=ENC(Cf3Jf3tM+UrSOoaKU50od5CuBa8rxjoL)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/activemq-core/src/test/resources/org/apache/activemq/security/simple-auth-broker.xml b/activemq-core/src/test/resources/org/apache/activemq/security/simple-auth-broker.xml
index 0b1f3aa032..e525ee39d1 100644
--- a/activemq-core/src/test/resources/org/apache/activemq/security/simple-auth-broker.xml
+++ b/activemq-core/src/test/resources/org/apache/activemq/security/simple-auth-broker.xml
@@ -25,7 +25,15 @@
   xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.0.xsd
   http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core/activemq-core.xsd">
 
-  <bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer"/>
+  <bean id="configurationEncryptor" class="org.jasypt.encryption.pbe.StandardPBEStringEncryptor"> 
+      <property name="algorithm" value="PBEWithMD5AndDES"/> 
+      <property name="password" value="activemq"/> 
+  </bean> 
+    
+  <bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.jasypt.spring.properties.EncryptablePropertyPlaceholderConfigurer"> 
+      <constructor-arg ref="configurationEncryptor" /> 
+      <property name="location" value="classpath:credentials.properties"/> 
+  </bean> 
 
   <broker useJmx="true" persistent="false" xmlns="http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core" populateJMSXUserID="true">
 
@@ -41,11 +49,11 @@
     <plugins>
 		<simpleAuthenticationPlugin>
 			<users>
-				<authenticationUser username="system" password="manager"
+				<authenticationUser username="system" password="${activemq.password}"
 					groups="users,admins"/>
-				<authenticationUser username="user" password="password"
+				<authenticationUser username="user" password="${guest.password}"
 					groups="users"/>
-				<authenticationUser username="guest" password="password" groups="guests"/>
+				<authenticationUser username="guest" password="${guest.password}" groups="guests"/>
 			</users>
 		</simpleAuthenticationPlugin>
 
diff --git a/assembly/pom.xml b/assembly/pom.xml
index c531a5de99..fc97f46e25 100755
--- a/assembly/pom.xml
+++ b/assembly/pom.xml
@@ -318,7 +318,14 @@
       <groupId>stax</groupId>
       <artifactId>stax</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-      
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.jasypt</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jasypt</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>com.ibm.icu</groupId>
+      <artifactId>icu4j</artifactId>
+    </dependency>      
 
     <dependency>
       <groupId>junit</groupId>
diff --git a/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml b/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml
index acc849b05a..1bb5ec001b 100644
--- a/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml
+++ b/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml
@@ -210,6 +210,8 @@
         <include>org.codehaus.jettison:jettison</include>
         <include>org.apache.velocity:velocity</include>
         <include>net.sf.josql:josql</include>
+        <include>org.jasypt:jasypt</include>
+        <include>com.ibm.icu:icu4j</include>
       </includes>
     </dependencySet>
     <dependencySet>
diff --git a/assembly/src/release/conf/activemq.xml b/assembly/src/release/conf/activemq.xml
index cbcde811de..3156e1a93e 100755
--- a/assembly/src/release/conf/activemq.xml
+++ b/assembly/src/release/conf/activemq.xml
@@ -21,12 +21,16 @@
   xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.0.xsd
   http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core/activemq-core.xsd">
 
-    <!-- Allows us to use system properties as variables in this configuration file -->
-    <bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
-        <property name="locations">
-            <value>file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties</value>
-        </property>      
-    </bean>
+    <!-- Allows us to use encrypted system properties as variables in this configuration file -->
+    <bean id="configurationEncryptor" class="org.jasypt.encryption.pbe.StandardPBEStringEncryptor"> 
+        <property name="algorithm" value="PBEWithMD5AndDES"/> 
+        <property name="password" value="activemq"/> 
+    </bean> 
+
+    <bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.jasypt.spring.properties.EncryptablePropertyPlaceholderConfigurer"> 
+        <constructor-arg ref="configurationEncryptor" /> 
+        <property name="location" value="file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties"/> 
+    </bean> 
 
     <!-- 
         The <broker> element is used to configure the ActiveMQ broker. 
diff --git a/assembly/src/release/conf/credentials.properties b/assembly/src/release/conf/credentials.properties
index a6bd34e011..86f719940f 100644
--- a/assembly/src/release/conf/credentials.properties
+++ b/assembly/src/release/conf/credentials.properties
@@ -18,4 +18,7 @@
 # Defines credentials that will be used by components (like web console) to access the broker
 
 activemq.username=system
-activemq.password=manager
\ No newline at end of file
+#activemq.password=manager
+activemq.password=ENC(mYRkg+4Q4hua1kvpCCI2hg==)
+#guest.password=password
+guest.password=ENC(Cf3Jf3tM+UrSOoaKU50od5CuBa8rxjoL)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/assembly/src/release/webapps/admin/WEB-INF/webconsole-embedded.xml b/assembly/src/release/webapps/admin/WEB-INF/webconsole-embedded.xml
index f80fca306a..c3602373c1 100644
--- a/assembly/src/release/webapps/admin/WEB-INF/webconsole-embedded.xml
+++ b/assembly/src/release/webapps/admin/WEB-INF/webconsole-embedded.xml
@@ -21,11 +21,16 @@
      
   <import resource="webconsole-query.xml"/>
      
-  <bean id="placeholderConfig" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
-        <property name="locations">
-                <value>file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties</value>
-        </property>  
-  </bean>
+  <!-- Allows us to use encrypted system properties as variables in this configuration file -->
+  <bean id="configurationEncryptor" class="org.jasypt.encryption.pbe.StandardPBEStringEncryptor"> 
+      <property name="algorithm" value="PBEWithMD5AndDES"/> 
+      <property name="password" value="activemq"/> 
+  </bean> 
+
+  <bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.jasypt.spring.properties.EncryptablePropertyPlaceholderConfigurer"> 
+      <constructor-arg ref="configurationEncryptor" /> 
+      <property name="location" value="file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties"/> 
+  </bean> 
   
   <!-- use the following bean for a local in-JVM broker -->
   <bean id="brokerQuery" class="org.apache.activemq.web.SingletonBrokerFacade" autowire="constructor" scope="prototype"/>
diff --git a/assembly/src/release/webapps/camel/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml b/assembly/src/release/webapps/camel/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml
index d242f8926c..f075fb6f1a 100644
--- a/assembly/src/release/webapps/camel/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml
+++ b/assembly/src/release/webapps/camel/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml
@@ -25,11 +25,16 @@
        http://camel.apache.org/schema/spring http://camel.apache.org/schema/spring/camel-spring.xsd
     ">
 
-    <bean id="placeholderConfig" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
-        <property name="locations">
-                <value>file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties</value>
-        </property>  
-    </bean>
+    <!-- Allows us to use encrypted system properties as variables in this configuration file -->
+    <bean id="configurationEncryptor" class="org.jasypt.encryption.pbe.StandardPBEStringEncryptor"> 
+        <property name="algorithm" value="PBEWithMD5AndDES"/> 
+        <property name="password" value="activemq"/> 
+    </bean> 
+
+    <bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.jasypt.spring.properties.EncryptablePropertyPlaceholderConfigurer"> 
+        <constructor-arg ref="configurationEncryptor" /> 
+        <property name="location" value="file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties"/> 
+    </bean> 
 
     <camelContext id="camel" xmlns="http://camel.apache.org/schema/spring">
 
diff --git a/assembly/src/sample-conf/activemq-security.xml b/assembly/src/sample-conf/activemq-security.xml
index 9bf1309410..8f8939b5d8 100644
--- a/assembly/src/sample-conf/activemq-security.xml
+++ b/assembly/src/sample-conf/activemq-security.xml
@@ -32,11 +32,16 @@
   xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.0.xsd
   http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core/activemq-core.xsd">
   
-  <bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
-      <property name="locations">
-          <value>file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties</value>
-      </property>      
-  </bean>
+  <!-- Allows us to use encrypted system properties as variables in this configuration file -->
+  <bean id="configurationEncryptor" class="org.jasypt.encryption.pbe.StandardPBEStringEncryptor"> 
+      <property name="algorithm" value="PBEWithMD5AndDES"/> 
+      <property name="password" value="activemq"/> 
+  </bean> 
+    
+  <bean id="propertyConfigurer" class="org.jasypt.spring.properties.EncryptablePropertyPlaceholderConfigurer"> 
+      <constructor-arg ref="configurationEncryptor" /> 
+      <property name="location" value="file:${activemq.base}/conf/credentials.properties"/> 
+  </bean> 
 
   <broker useJmx="true" persistent="false" xmlns="http://activemq.apache.org/schema/core" destroyApplicationContextOnStop="true">
 
@@ -44,11 +49,11 @@
         <!-- Configure authentication; Username, passwords and groups -->
         <simpleAuthenticationPlugin>
             <users>
-                <authenticationUser username="system" password="manager"
+                <authenticationUser username="system" password="${activemq.password}"
                     groups="users,admins"/>
-                <authenticationUser username="user" password="password"
+                <authenticationUser username="user" password="${guest.password}"
                     groups="users"/>
-                <authenticationUser username="guest" password="password" groups="guests"/>
+                <authenticationUser username="guest" password="${guest.password}" groups="guests"/>
             </users>
         </simpleAuthenticationPlugin>
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 029a4867db..83666b644f 100755
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@
     <geronimo-version>1.0</geronimo-version>
     <howl-version>0.1.8</howl-version>
     <hsqldb-version>1.7.2.2</hsqldb-version>
+    <icu-version>4.0.1</icu-version>
+    <jasypt-version>1.6</jasypt-version>
     <jdom-version>1.0</jdom-version>
     <jetty-version>7.0.1.v20091125</jetty-version>
     <jsp-version>2.1.v20100127</jsp-version>
@@ -821,6 +823,18 @@
         <artifactId>aopalliance</artifactId>
         <version>${aopalliance-version}</version>
       </dependency>
+      
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.jasypt</groupId>
+        <artifactId>jasypt</artifactId>
+        <version>${jasypt-version}</version>
+      </dependency>
+      
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>com.ibm.icu</groupId>
+        <artifactId>icu4j</artifactId>
+        <version>${icu-version}</version>
+      </dependency>                    
 
       <!-- testing dependencies -->
       <dependency>