How do I make my database secure?

I have a sql server database hosted by an ISP. It has credit card
fields. I want to make the database secure.
My asp.net pages refer to the database as follows:
strConnection =
ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["ConnectionInformation"];
Which means they get the connectionstring for the database from a
web.config file.
The web.config file has the following tags:
<appSettings>
<add key="ConnectionInformation"
value="Server=sql2k5.earthweb.com;Database=merc_One;uid=usa_hvtest;password=vinyl"
/>
</appSettings>
Is there some way to encrypt the connection string? Would it be
encrypted in the web.config? Could some hacker get at the web.config?
Are there any other security measures I could take? For instance,
could the creditcard fields be encrypted in the database?
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
-- Marvin

.

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