sensitive document

[mark]

Hi everyone...

I hope i'm posting this in the right newsgroup. There are
so many options i wasn't sure which one to choose.

I have a document of a somewhat sensitive nature that i've
been saving to floppy disc and CD. Now, whenever i go on
the internet, i take out my disc. I have never saved the
document to hard drive. I am finding out now though that
Microsoft creates temporary files for Word documents and
i'm wondering if it's possible that a file could have been
left on my hard drive without my knowledge. Is this
possible?

Thanks so much to whoever can help. I didn't know who
else to ask where i would get a definite answer on this.

mark.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Hi Mark,

You are much better off password protecting your document from opening with
it saved on your hard drive. Assuming you have Word 2000 or later, this is
very strong encryption.

Working from Word with a document on a floppy or a CD is one of the best
ways I know of to trash the document. With repeated access, it is not a
question of if it will be trashed, only when.

If even with that level of security (password protection) you can't keep the
document on your hard drive, copy it to the hard drive to work on it using
Windows. Then within Work on it from the hard drive and save it to the hard
drive with the password. Then copy it from the hard drive in Windows back to
your floppy/CD and delete it from the HD. That leaves you with the problem
of the deleted file still being there...

That said, the answer to your original question is that yes it is likely
that Word created a temporary file, but it was likely created on the floppy
unless you are using Word 2003. Such temporary files are the main reason
Word trashes documents on floppies -- it runs out of room. You can minimize
such files by turning off the option to automatically save a backup and by
saving frequently.

Otherwise to be really secure you need a third-party utility to cleanse your
hard drive of deleted files. I believe PGP includes one that meets Defense
Department "Tempest" standards.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Mark]

thanks for the reply Charles, and the info.

Actually, i had been password protecting my document on
disc, but i had assumed that if someone was adept enough
to hack into my system, they would have no problem
cracking a password protected word file. Would it somehow
be more difficult for them to transfer the Word temp file
to their own machine if it was password protected?

Again, thanks for your help.

Mark.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Saving frequently actually exacerbates the problem (a new .tmp file created
each time you save) unless you also close and reopen frequently.

 

[Mark]

Thanks so much for the replies. I have one more question
and then i will lay this matter to rest. It's more to
set my mind at ease than anything else, and i apologize
if it seems redundant.

If i'm saving only to floppy and close the document and
eject the disc before i go on the internet, while using
Word 2000, is there ANY way even a ghost of a file could
remain on my hard drive from doing this?

Thanks again in advance and have a great week.

Mark.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Word creates temp files in the Windows Temp folder, but they don't contain
any usable data.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Mark, please read my first response. Saving directly to the floppy almost
guarantees that eventually you will no longer have your document!
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

With Word 2000 or later in a US version of Word you have strong encryption.
Breaking that is not trivial, even Word 97's encryption is far from trivial.
I believe that Word 2000 + is 128 bit encryption and Word 97 uses 64-bit but
could be mistaken.

Can it be done, yes. But it takes skills, time, and resources beyond the
interest of the run-of-the mill hacker. It takes a lot more than it does to
attack a system through an Internet port. If you are hiding something from
the FBI or NSA, you need more. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) has been highly
rated.

You could also protect your system with a decent firewall.

I don't think deleted files are going to be obtained easily by hackers,
either, but could be mistaken on that. Again, they _can_ be cleaned, just
not with Windows alone.

Temporary files will be deleted when you properly exit Word. Again, these
are deleted files, not non-existent files. One method hackers use is to
crash systems to cause temporary files to not be deleted. Generally, though,
what they are going after are system files, not temporary Word files.

I guess it depends on the resources of whoever it is you are worried about.
If you are the target of a special investigation or attack (rather than
general Internet mischief) then you have to figure out what steps you need
to be taking. I guess if I expected that kind of problem, I would not be
using a computer connected to the Internet, period.

For most people, the risk of working with a document on a floppy far exceeds
the risk of anything being done by hackers.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Mark]

Thank you so much both of you for all your help. It is
greatly appreciated.

Mark.