how to pass a password with a cron job safely?

I have a site map generator script placed in this URL

http://ift.tt/1zxIPEt

However this URL is protected with an username and a password in auth_type basic method.

I need to place a cron to access this URL once a week. So I've decided to use the curl command and placed the cron like below.

curl -u username:mypassword http://ift.tt/1zxIPEt

I'm aware that sending a password through http is insecure, however at least I'm trying to hide the password from server/hosting panel users from this curl command.

1) Are there any methods to hide the password in this curl command? I read something about placing a plain text file with the password in server and use it with the -k option. However I'm not in to place the password in a plain text file either.

2) Are there any other commands than curl to use for this specific purpose?