Dec 01, 2015 Fortunately, Mac users have lot of possible encryption options nowadays (built in Mac OS tools and 3rd party encryption apps as well). Built Mac OS Disk Utility tool allows to protect your private files and create encrypted folder disk image. If user does not want to ecrypt the entire disk and enable filevault protection he/she may encrypt.
Microsoft Office password protection is a security feature to protect Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) documents with a user-provided password. As of Office 2007, this uses modern encryption; earlier versions used weaker systems and are not considered secure.
Office 2007–2013 employed 128-bit key AES password protection which remains secure. Office 2016 employed 256-bit key AES password protection which also remains secure.
The Office 97–2003 password protection used 40-bit key RC4 which contains multiple vulnerabilities rendering it insecure.
Types[edit]
Microsoft Office applications offer the use of two main groups of passwords that can be set to a document depending on whether they encrypt a password-protected document or not.
Passwords that do not encrypt a password-protected document have different security level features for each of Microsoft Office applications as mentioned below.
- In Microsoft Word[1] passwords restrict modification of the entire document.
- In Microsoft Excel passwords restrict modification of the workbook, a worksheet within it, or individual elements in the worksheet.
- In Microsoft PowerPoint[1] passwords restrict modification of the entire presentation.
Because of the lack of document encryption, all the passwords mentioned above cannot reliably protect a document from a hacker. Most password cracking software can remove such protection from a password-protected document in very little time.[contradictory]
The password that encrypts a document also restricts the user from opening the document. It is possible to set this type of password in all Microsoft Office applications. If a user fails to enter a correct password to the field which appears after an attempt to open a password-protected document, viewing and editing the document will not be possible. Due to the encryption of a document protected by a password to open it, a hacker needs to decrypt the document to get access to its contents. To provide improved security, Microsoft has been consistently enhancing the Office encryption algorithm strength.
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History of Microsoft Encryption password[edit]
In Excel and Word 95 and prior editions a weak protection algorithm is used that converts a password to a 16-bit key.[2] Hacking software is now readily available to find a 16-bit key and decrypt the password-protected document instantly.[3]
In Excel and Word 97 and 2000 the key length was increased to 40 bits.[2] This protection algorithm is also currently considered to be weak and presents no difficulties to hacking software.
The default protection in Office XP and 2003 was not changed, but an opportunity to use a custom protection algorithm was added.[2] Choosing a non-standard Cryptographic Service Provider allows increasing the key length. Weak passwords can still be recovered quickly even if a custom CSP is on.
In Office 2007 (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), protection was significantly enhanced since a modern protection algorithm named Advanced Encryption Standard was used.[2] At present there is no software that can break this encryption. With the help of the SHA-1 hash function, the password is stretched into a 128-bit key 50,000 times before opening the document; as a result, the time required to crack it is vastly increased.
Excel and Word 2010 still employ AES and a 128-bit key, but the number of SHA-1 conversions has doubled to 100,000[2] further increasing the time required to crack the password.
Office 2013 (Access, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Project, and Word)uses 128-bit AES, again with hash algorithm SHA-1 by default.[4]
Office 2016 (Access, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Project, and Word) uses 256-bit AES, the SHA-1 hash algorithm, and CBC (Cipher Block Chaining) by default.[5]
Excel Worksheet and Macro protection[edit]
The protection for worksheets and macros is necessarily weaker than that for the entire workbook as the software itself must be able to display or use them. In Excel it is particularly weak, and an equivalent password can easily be found of the form ABABABABABAx where the first 11 chars are either A or B and the last is an ASCII character.[citation needed]
Password recovery attacks[edit]
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There are a number of attacks that can be employed to find a password or remove password protection from Excel and Word documents.
Password removal can be done with the help of precomputation tables or a guaranteed decryption attack.
Attacks that target the original password set in Microsoft Excel and Word include dictionary attack, rule-based attack, brute-force attack, mask attack and statistics-based attack.
The efficiency of attacks can be considerably enhanced if one of the following means is applied: multiple CPUs (distributed attack), GPGPU[6] (applicable only to Microsoft Office 2007–2010 documents) and cloud computing. Due to weak passwords, at the moment, cloud computing facilities are capable of unlocking as many as ca. 80% of the files saved in the Office 2007–2010 format.[citation needed] Passwords of sufficient length and complexity typically cannot be brute-forced.
Office 2013 introduces SHA-512 hashes in the encryption algorithm, making brute-force and rainbow table attacks slower. However, it has to be noted that all SHA hash algorithms were never designed for password hashing and are thus not considered secure anymore.[7] Modern, slower and thus more secure hashes such as PBKDF2, scrypt or other KDFs have not yet been implemented in Office.
For xlsx files that can be opened but not edited, there is another attack, as the file format is a group of XML files within a zip, unzipping editing and replacing the workbook.xml file, and/or the individual worksheet XML files with identical copies, except that the unknown key and salt are replaced with a known pair, or removing the key altogether allows the sheets to be edited.
There is specialized software designed to recover lost Microsoft Office passwords on pre-AES encryption.
Ultimately, the security of a password-protected document is dependent on the user choosing a password of sufficient complexity. If the password can be determined through guesswork or social engineering, the underlying cipher is not important.
References[edit]
- ^ ab'Password protect documents, workbooks, and presentations – Support – Office.com'. Office.microsoft.com. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^ abcde'Microsoft Office File Format Documents'. Msdn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^'Russian Password Crackers: Password Recovery (Cracking) FAQ'. Password-crackers.com. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^'Cryptography and encryption settings for Office 2013'. docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
- ^DHB-MSFT. 'Cryptography and encryption in Office 2016'. docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
- ^'GPU estimations'. Golubev.com. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^'Is using SHA-512 for storing passwords tolerable?'. Information Security Stack Exchange. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
With the growth of technology and the spread of cyberspace across a free globe it has been imperative that we put in some protection that would allow the users to protect them from various types of viruses and bugs which lie around abound on the web. The internet is a place which is susceptible to various incidents such as ransomware and the spread of malicious software which might affect your PC’s in a way which might make it irreparable.
While, there has been a growing cases of spread of piracy and other forms of malware which are present abound across the cyberspace which has spread far and wide like wildfire which clearly tell us the need of encryption and how the same has rather become a paramount necessity to ensure that there are no problems or threats which might disrupt or interfere with the user’s data and might actually make it really difficult to recover the affected data.
What is Encryption and the need of using an Encryption software?
Encryption is basically a process that allows you to store and keep your data in a form, which is called encrypted. Keeping the data of the users and the organization in an encrypted form ensures greater safety and also keeps various forms of malware which might affect your PC’s at bay. The burgeoning cyberspace has actually increased the need for encryption which ensures that the personal data of a user is stored and is not subjected to any form of misuse.
To ensure that all the data on our PC’s are encrypted and to actually save our PC’s from being misused and to also keep our data free from the attack of any form of malicious software starting from virus, bugs to malware which might result in bringing a halt to all our activities we might engage on our PC’s to a halt. This is the reason that we need Encryption software.
Encryption software is one of the most powerful software that one would come across, it allows you to store your data safely and also ensures that there is no misuse of the data which might take place if your PC gets exposed to any form of malicious software.
Encryption software works with the use of an Encryption tool which is used for generating unique encryption codes each time when you share or use your data, the software almost makes it impossible to comprehend the message being sent out, through which it ensures that privacy is maintained and there is no threat of sorts which might send your PC into a tizzy.
Encryption software is present in abounding which can be used and downloaded for free and allows you to keep your data safe and ensure that there is no misuse and one can browse safely and with ease on the web while ensuring that one’s identity is kept under covers.
Now, we would look into some of the best free encryption software that is available for users on the Windows operating system:
1. AxCrypt
AxCrypt is available for the users with supports of 128 -bit AES encryption, which tells us about the encryption capacity that the software comes with. This software is light and is really convenient to be used with ease. All it requires is just a few clicks.
The software allows one to even encrypt large multiple files and folders at once and also gives one to tweak around with the various encryption options that come with the software. It allows the users to encrypt a file for a specific or a chosen period of time as per the need. The pint-sized software is actually really stable and easy to use making it one of the best free Encryption software for Windows.
2. BitLocker
The software comes from Microsoft itself and is one of the leading encryption software that one would come across and is also one of the safest software to work with, which explains the need to use such software which ensures safety and stability.
The software comes with full disk encryption tool and also comes with support for both AES 128 and AES 256 bit. It also comes with an option to encrypt the whole disk at once, if the need arises. The features and the stability BitLocker has to offer; it is one of the best free Encryption software available for use.
3. VeraCrypt
VeraCrypt is another leading Encryption software which is making waves in the industry of Encryption software and allows one to carve out encryption algorithms for any kind of file formats that one would come across.
VeraCrypt has been able to bring in additional features that have given greater stability and added a greater set of security to the same while ensuring that there is no kind of malicious software around the files which might attack and steal one’s personal data. The advanced features it comes with makes it one of the best free Encryption software.
4. 7-Zip
The software as is evident from the name is a zip software that allows the users to archive the data and store them in zip folder which also allows the users to save data on your computer and also gives the user the flexibility to save files as per need and group them accordingly.
Predominately, might seem to the users as a zip software, it also comes with enhanced encryption software which also ensures that your data stored in the zip folders remains safe and there are no bugs hovering over it.
5. DiskCryptor
DiskCryptor has emerged to become one of the most reliable software in recent times for Encryption and allows users the flexibility to work around with various disk partitions and allows one to encrypt various parts of the hard disk even at once.
The software serves multiple purposes and comes with some of the best security features that any of the Encryption software in the market has to offer. The stability and the high performance it delivers makes it one of the best free Encryption software available to use.
6. LaCie Private-Public
The software is an open-sourced one and is a lightweight software that one would come across while exploring and actually understanding the types of Encryption software that might be available at the disposal of the user.
Here is the full list of tools discussed in the podcast: RECON for Mac OS X – Automated Mac Forensics, RAM Imaging, Search features, Live Imaging and Timeline generation. PALADIN – Free imaging option. Offers remote imaging feature where client boots system and examiner can access to complete imaging tasks. Audio forensics software for mac. Diamond Cut Forensics Audio Laboratory is a comprehensive application made for audio restoration and enhancement. Mostly developed for expert users, it contains a wide range of filters and effects. Audio Forensics Software. If you have a voice recording that needs to be cleaned up, then our Audio Forensics tools should be just the thing you're looking for. Ideal for audio analysis, hidden mic recordings and any other noisey recordings that need to have the noise removed so that the voices can be heard. These professional audio tools are used by law enforcement agencies all over the world for. WavePad is audio editing software for Mac OS X. This program lets you make and edit voice, music and other audio recordings. You can cut, copy and paste parts of recording and, if required, add effects like echo, amplification and noise reduction.
The software allows one to store their private data through the use of an encrypted volume. The software stores the configuration data in your Windows registry and the software can also run without granting it permission as an administrator of the system.
We will now shift our attention, as we look towards the best Encryption software which is available for the Mac users:
7. Cisdem AppCrypt
Cisdem AppCrypt for quite some time now has actually emerged to be one of the most trusted Encryption software available for the Mac users. It allows one to block malicious apps and websites and gives the users the liberty to surf on the web with additional safety features attached to the same.
It allows one to encrypt files with ease and also gives one option to work on the same with greater ease. The software comes with a number of encryption options and is one of the most reliable software that one would come across, making it one of the best free Encryption software.
8. GNU Privacy Guard
It’s not just the partitions of the hard disk one needs to keep safe, we also need to keep our incoming and outgoing messages through the e-mails safe and ensure that no one can actually distort our messages and get access to some confidential information,
Well, here is where GNU Privacy Guard comes in which allows the users to encrypt the array of emails which go to and fro from our e-mails. It has one of the most complex algorithms and keeps your confidential information safe from intruders.
9. FileVault
FileVault is a perfect encryption software designed specifically for the users of Mac, making it one of the best free Encryption software for Mac on which one can lay their hands on and have a convenient experience while one goes on encrypting multiple files and volumes.
It allows the Mac users to encrypt the startup disk while ensuring that no one else can actually touch your personal data and is no form of threat that might loom large over the attack by malicious software.
10. BetterUnarchiver
The software is considered to be a normally a one which performs the function of compressing and decompressing with ease. It allows the users to create folders that would enable the users to protect it any form of attack through malicious software.
The software is easy and convenient to use, it occupies quite a little space and allows the users to work around with various file formats while you go on archiving the selected files or disks. The ease with which it allows the users to work with makes it one of the best free Encryption software available.
11. MacFort
MacFort is slowly emerging to become one of the leading software that is available to the users. The software has made storing data privately and efficiently easier than ever before.
The software allows one to encrypt applications with the password and allows one to work with multiple volumes or even folders on a single-use basis. The software comes with a modern and clean interface and gives the users a number of options and enhanced features to work with.
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12. Simpleum Safe
The software as the name suggests has made encryption simpler than ever before. The software allows one to attach passwords to folders on your Mac device with ease and allows the users to work around with various folders and volumes which might come in an array of file formats.
The software might not be really heard of in the common sphere of things, but it is slowly making its way up the ranks. The software also allows the users to store the encrypted data online, which would comply with the data regulations being put into place.
Wrapping it up!!
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With the spread of cyberspace and greater access to the internet, it has emerged that there is an array of malicious software which is swarming around and might attack our data anytime and actually destroy the data in some of the cases.
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We now have Encryption software at our disposal, which allows one to encrypt multiple files and folders. Most of the Encryption software is actually free and it would actually go a long way in ensuring that the data remains safe and protected.
Here, we looked at some of the best free Encryption software that one can install on their PC’s across the Windows and Mac Operating system which ensures that there are safety and a greater sense of stability attached to the same.