Most of us these days are aware of the fact that our electronic data is not safe. Anyone on the web with a little know-how could access our computer over the Internet and get into our files. To keep our electronic data safe it is important to remember to password protect your MS Office documents. Password protecting documents takes very little effort and will prevent important or sensitive files from falling into the wrong hands.
Adding a password to your files is something that is simple and easy to do, once you know where to look. For the best protection you will want a password that is at least 12 characters long and contains a combination of letter, numbers and symbols. This will ensure that a thief cannot easily gain access to your files.
Now that we have covered how to keep your documents safe, what happens if you lose or forget the passwords? Obviously you dont want to use the same password on every document " if someone ever guessed the password then all of your files would be at risk. At the same time using a different password every time will make it difficult to remember. Odds are at some point in time you are going to lose a password and need to access your files.
Luckily there are programs out there which are designed to help you retrieve your files should you forget the password. These programs, referred to as password recovery software, work in a few different ways to figure out what password you used.
Initially the program will try to open your document using a combination of letters and number to see if it can guess the right password. This may work to gain entry into your files, but if you used a long or complex password that includes a variety of characters and symbols it may not succeed.
The second method is to go through the dictionary systematically and again try to hit on the right word. Most programs will allow you to customize your search and add numbers or symbols within the password if you know that is how you structured it. If neither method has results, then the software can try to disable the password protection on the file itself instead of trying to find the password.
Finally the password recovery software can simply disable the password protection on the file. This is where you want to be careful, as once the password protection is removed then your files are again in danger. Ensure you quickly protect them again once you have got in, and remember the password this time!
While this type of software is a great tool to use when you forget your password, it should not replace whatever method you use to keep track of your passwords. Create a bomb-proof file with a long and complicated password to store the keys to your other files, and commit the password to this file to memory " do not write it down, or if you do keep it in a safe place where no one will find it. Then you can rest knowing that all your files are safe and sound.
The next time you are password protecting your documents, consider opening a secure document and saving your passwords in there, then make sure that the password you place on that document is 1) easy to remember and 2) complicated enough that a software recovery program couldn't open it. Then you wont have to worry about lost passwords or unprotected files. - 15485
Adding a password to your files is something that is simple and easy to do, once you know where to look. For the best protection you will want a password that is at least 12 characters long and contains a combination of letter, numbers and symbols. This will ensure that a thief cannot easily gain access to your files.
Now that we have covered how to keep your documents safe, what happens if you lose or forget the passwords? Obviously you dont want to use the same password on every document " if someone ever guessed the password then all of your files would be at risk. At the same time using a different password every time will make it difficult to remember. Odds are at some point in time you are going to lose a password and need to access your files.
Luckily there are programs out there which are designed to help you retrieve your files should you forget the password. These programs, referred to as password recovery software, work in a few different ways to figure out what password you used.
Initially the program will try to open your document using a combination of letters and number to see if it can guess the right password. This may work to gain entry into your files, but if you used a long or complex password that includes a variety of characters and symbols it may not succeed.
The second method is to go through the dictionary systematically and again try to hit on the right word. Most programs will allow you to customize your search and add numbers or symbols within the password if you know that is how you structured it. If neither method has results, then the software can try to disable the password protection on the file itself instead of trying to find the password.
Finally the password recovery software can simply disable the password protection on the file. This is where you want to be careful, as once the password protection is removed then your files are again in danger. Ensure you quickly protect them again once you have got in, and remember the password this time!
While this type of software is a great tool to use when you forget your password, it should not replace whatever method you use to keep track of your passwords. Create a bomb-proof file with a long and complicated password to store the keys to your other files, and commit the password to this file to memory " do not write it down, or if you do keep it in a safe place where no one will find it. Then you can rest knowing that all your files are safe and sound.
The next time you are password protecting your documents, consider opening a secure document and saving your passwords in there, then make sure that the password you place on that document is 1) easy to remember and 2) complicated enough that a software recovery program couldn't open it. Then you wont have to worry about lost passwords or unprotected files. - 15485
About the Author:
Albert McZeally has many white papers on office security. If you are interested in learning more about Office Password Recovery, read more of his complete guides or white papers on the subject. Complete information on word recovery software available at Word Password Recovery.
