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.
Anyone who keeps financial information such as credit card or bank account numbers should ensure they password protect their documents. Additionally, if you work in an office and handle sensitive information about your company or any of your clients these documents should be protected as well. Doing so can save you a lot of trouble should the files fall into the wrong hands.
There is one small downside to password protecting your documents " what happens if you lose the password to a file? While you probably like to write down the passwords to your documents somewhere, this is not very safe as someone could find them and all your documents would be at risk. At the same time if you dont write them down you run the risk of losing all your important data if you forget the passwords associated with the 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.
There are many kinds of password recover programs, but most of them work in the same way. They will try to access the file by guessing the password. If your password is relatively strong it may take some time for the software to find the right combination of characters.
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 success, then the software can try to disable the password protection on the file itself instead of trying to find the password.
If your password is very complex there is a chance that the software will not be able crack your password. In this case you will need to take the last resort option and have the software disable your password protection entirely. While this is not the best option as it will leave your files vulnerable while you re-protect them, if you cant get into your files by other means and your files are important to you then it has to be done.
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 document 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. - 16492
Anyone who keeps financial information such as credit card or bank account numbers should ensure they password protect their documents. Additionally, if you work in an office and handle sensitive information about your company or any of your clients these documents should be protected as well. Doing so can save you a lot of trouble should the files fall into the wrong hands.
There is one small downside to password protecting your documents " what happens if you lose the password to a file? While you probably like to write down the passwords to your documents somewhere, this is not very safe as someone could find them and all your documents would be at risk. At the same time if you dont write them down you run the risk of losing all your important data if you forget the passwords associated with the 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.
There are many kinds of password recover programs, but most of them work in the same way. They will try to access the file by guessing the password. If your password is relatively strong it may take some time for the software to find the right combination of characters.
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 success, then the software can try to disable the password protection on the file itself instead of trying to find the password.
If your password is very complex there is a chance that the software will not be able crack your password. In this case you will need to take the last resort option and have the software disable your password protection entirely. While this is not the best option as it will leave your files vulnerable while you re-protect them, if you cant get into your files by other means and your files are important to you then it has to be done.
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 document 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. - 16492
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 matter. Complete information on word recovery software located at Word Password Recovery.
