Excel File Encryption

Delta3D · 5 Mar 2018 at 18:34

Hi all,

I was just wondering what's the best way of securing an Excel Document?

I can see that Excel itself (Using latest version with Office 365 Pro-Plus) has a password protection/encryption built in that you can enable. Would this be secure enough against brute force attacks and the likes?

Thanks in advance

Armageus · 5 Mar 2018 at 18:47

I believe the latest versions are quite secure (compares to the old Excel 97 etc versions that could be easily cracked)

Delta3D · 5 Mar 2018 at 19:16

Armageus said:
I believe the latest versions are quite secure (compares to the old Excel 97 etc versions that could be easily cracked)

Perfect - thanks for the comment @Armageus - File will also be stored on a bitlockered drive so should be okay then

Joy990 · 6 Mar 2018 at 01:04

The latest version of Excel encrypts the file with AES & SHA512. That is much stronger than Excel 2007/2003.
However, your password could still be cracked with GPU technology if it's simple or short:
https://www.top-password.com/excel-password-recovery.html

If you're concerned about the security, set a password longer than 8 characters, with digit numbers, uppercase and lowercase characters.

jpaul · 6 Mar 2018 at 07:51

for office 365 can you access multi-factor authorisation functionality -
which would cicumvent key loggers that could grab doc pswd ?