Ultimate Password Protection

[Guest]

Is there any password protection on an excel file that someone cannot easily
break?

I need to send an excel workbook to a customer but I dont want him to see
one worksheet that I have hidden. I have password protected the worksheets
and workbook, but judging by the messages on here, that doesn't really seem
to make it secure at all.

Any ideas gratefully recieved. Thanks,

Will

 

[Guest]

hi,
while excel does have some protection, it is far from
perfect meaning that there is no "ultimate Password
protection".
How bad is it?
see this site. it has a free utility that will remove
excel passwords.
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/removepwords.html
don't you feel save now.
regards

 

[Ken Wright]

None whatsoever!!! If it is in a workbook then consider it public. You can
make it hard to get to but there are probably none of the regulars in here that
could not get to your data no matter what you did to it, or how hard you tried
to hide it, and that even means breaking VBA code password protection which up
until a while ago was usually the surest way of hiding data (Though never
foolproof).

If you don't want it seen then don't put it in - Anything can be hidden from
casual view but a determined person will get it without too much trouble.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the answers so far. You've confirmed my worst fears!

Ken, you say "you can make it hard to get to but..." Well, what else can I
do to make it hard to get to (if I accept that if the customer is absolutely
determined then I wont be able to stop him)?

For example, I saw on one of the "get password applications" that it used to
be the case that a password with lots of characters in would make cracking it
more difficult (not so anymore, though).

Many thanks,

Will

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the answers so far. You've confirmed my worst fears!

Ken, you say "you can make it hard to get to but..." Well, what else can I
do to make it hard to get to (if I accept that if the customer is absolutely
determined then I wont be able to stop him)?

For example, I saw on one of the "get password applications" that it used to
be the case that a password with lots of characters in would make cracking it
more difficult (not so anymore, though).

Many thanks,

Will

 

[Ken Wright]

One tack is to make the sheet xlVeryHidden using VBA so that it does not appear
on any Hide/Unhide menus.

 

[millsy]

Is there any password protection on an excel file that someone cannot
easily
break?

I need to send an excel workbook to a customer but I dont want him to
see
one worksheet that I have hidden. I have password protected the
worksheets
and workbook, but judging by the messages on here, that doesn't really
seem
to make it secure at all.

Any ideas gratefully recieved. Thanks,

Will

Is it just for him to read or does it still have to respond to changes
in certain cells.

If it is the former use copy and paste special to convert the formulae
to values then take out the sensitive worksheet. Or maybe put the
sensitive sheet in another book and link your existing sheet to it.

 

[Guest]

Ken - thanks for your tip.

Millsy - The workbook will still have to respond to inputs made by the
customer, so unfortunately I cannot just convert the formulae to values. But
I think your suggestion of putting the sensitive sheet in another book sounds
like the best bet. It can look a little untidy when the customer comes to
open the workbook, and then cannot find the (sensitive) worksheet that is
referenced in to the workbook, but the workbook will still work correctly,
and they wont be able to see the sensitive worksheet. Many thanks.

Will

 

[Ken Wright]

It won't work!!

If the customer needs a formula driven model and you within those formulas refer
to anything on a sheet that is not accessible by the customer then it will fall
over immediately.