Security - passwords in document mgmt

[Lisa Geyer]

Although my company has a few directories secured so only
a limited number of staff members have access, most of our
documents are stored in directories that anyone can see.
We have been using passwords to protect Word and Excel
documents.

1. While I've found free Excel password "cracking"
software downloads, what similar free software is
available for Word password cracking? I've found some for
under $50, but am concerned that free stuff is out there
too.

2. What recommendations do you have for establishing
password protocols - so they are very difficult to "crack?"

3. Do you recommend reorganizing our directory structure
to limit access to certain directories? (I realize this
is not a Word question, but thought you might have some
insight and didn't want to miss the opportunity).

I look forward to hearing from you before 5 p.m. Eastern
time today. Thank you for your assistance.

Lisa Geyer
basys Office Administrator

 

[&:-jesse\)]

Lisa,

Although one can search the net and find several sites
that claim Word password cracking capability, I've not
heard of one that has been sucessful in cracking more than
a character or two. Meaning in short, that the evidence
does not back up the claim. Word passwords are quite
secure, and case sensitive. If it was easy to get in, then
there would be no need for a password.

jesse

 

[Cindy Meister -WordMVP-]

Hi Lisa,

2. What recommendations do you have for establishing
password protocols - so they are very difficult to "crack?"

A SECURITY group would probably be a better place to ask
something like this. I saw a discussion on passwords (not
Word-specific, just generally) recently. "Good" password
crackers start with lists of words, and characters commonly
used in succession (same way you'd go about solving a "code
puzzle").

So obviously, a password should not be a recognizable word,
but a more random concatenation of charaters.

Another point discussed was that some software will break
longer passwords up into groups in order to store them, and
that this seriously compromises the security of "long"
passwords. I have no idea, however, how this applies to Word
or Office passwords.

Later versions of Word (2002, for example) have a better
reputation for password security than older ones. And they
also have more encryption capabilities.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jan
24 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

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