Related tracker:
Issue 468 – Prompt for proxy password when it is not specified on login dialog
For my login to NASA systems, I must use an 8-digit RSA Token code as the proxy password (workflow details are all here:
https://www.nccs.nasa.gov/nccs-users/instructional/using-discover/file-transfer/local-to-nccs-systems).
The NASA workflow dictates that I must update the proxy password every time I attempt to connect to their systems using WinSCP. If I forget to do this, WinSCP will automatically make many attempts to connect to the proxy in the background using the old, expired 8-digit token code. When this happens, NASA detects the many failed authentication attempts and puts a lock on my account. I have to then call up NASA IT to have them unlock my account. This has happened at least 5 times now and is very frustrating!
It would be so helpful if I could leave the proxy password field blank so that it must be entered every time I establish a new connection to the NASA system, to avert this pitfall.
On a related note, after I have connected successfully to the NASA system, I must be careful to not accidentally initiate a new background connection because it will again use the old, expired 8-digit token code when attempting to establish the background connection. This means I currently cannot edit any files on the remote computer. If I accidentally try to edit and save a file on the remote side, WinSCP will again automatically make many failed attempts to connect to the proxy, resulting in my NASA account being locked out. To avert this problem, I wish there was a setting to allow editing and saving remote files using the same connection as the main "file browsing" connection -- without needing to create a new connection in the background for the file transfer of the updated file.
Thank you so much, I really love WinSCP!