title: AsPlainText security
body: <p>Trying to clarify the <code>-AsPlainText</code> parameter in the <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh849818.aspx" rel="nofollow">ConvertTo-SecureString</a> cmdlet:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>-AsPlainText</p>
    
    <p>Specifies a plain text string to convert to a secure string. The
    secure string cmdlets help protect confidential text. The text is
    encrypted for privacy and is deleted from computer memory after it is
    used. <strong>If you use this parameter to provide plain text as input, the
    system cannot protect that input in this manner</strong>. To use this
    parameter, you must also specify the Force parameter.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Can anyone explain what are the security implications implied by the bolded statement above? Is it safe to encrypt the contents of the string to a file by using this parameter?</p>