Word 2002 adds a convenient Security tab to the Tools/Options dialog box for easy access to security-related features. One of the security features involves protecting your personal information when you save a file -- it's about time! Read on to take a look at security features for Word 2002.
The Security Tab
From the Tools menu, choose Options and the Security tab. The tab appears as in the graphic below.
Note that password protection, digital signatures, privacy options, and macro security are now all contained in one place. You can also access security options when saving a file. In the File/Save as dialog box, choose Tools and Security Options, as below.
Passwords &
Protection
To encrypt
the document with a password for opening it, choose the first check
box. The Advanced tab allows you to choose an Encryption
Type. The options listed are those available on your
particular computer. So, if you need to share the file, you
might want to consider leaving the option as Office 97/2000 Compatible.
There are
programs available that will crack the password for Office files in
case a password is forgotten or lost. However, I'm sure you
can see how these programs could be used to also crack passwords for
files for which users are not supposed to have access. If you
are concerned about this, you may want to change the encryption type
from Office 97/2000 Compatible to something else.
You can
also add a password that would be necessary to modify the file, or
choose the Read-only recommended check box. These two
features are different. Read-only recommended
makes a suggestion to the user who opens the file that no changes
should be made. However, they can still modify the file and
save it under a different name. Adding a password to modify
the file ensures that to make changes the user must know the
password.
Digital
signatures may or may not be legally binding in a court of law.
You should check with the appropriate jurisdiction to find out if
the signature can be legally binding. Essentially, in Office
XP, a certificate is used to produce a digital signature. The
certificate used to create this signature confirms that the macro or
document originated from the signer, and the signature confirms that
it has not been altered. When you set the macro security level, you
can run macros based on whether they are digitally signed by a
developer on your list of trusted sources. To add, remove, or
view the properties of a digital signature, choose the Digital
Signature button. The Digital Signature dialog box
is shown below.
The Protect
Document button protects the document for tracked changes,
comments and forms. You can add a password here as well:
Privacy
Word can block the saving of any private information that is normally attached with the file and file properties. If you check the box for Remove personal information from this file on save, Word blocks the following information from being saved in the properties:
-
File properties: Last saved by, Author, Manager, and Company
-
Names associated with tracked changes or comments
-
Any routing slip is removed
-
Email message header associated with the use of the E-mail button in Word is removed
-
The name under Saved by for versioning is changed to "Author"
You can view tracked changes and comments in a document by choosing Markup from the View menu.
One caution: If you remove the personal information from a file and the file is then opened as a text file, the previously deleted information may be seen. This happens when you choose to Allow fast saves in the Tools/Options dialog box. To correct this, simply open the file as a Word document, choose Options from the Tools menu, and clear the check box under the Save tab for Allow fast saves. Then save the file as normal.
Macro Security
Macro security is important, because viruses can be passed through macros. Be sure that documents you open and enable macros for are from trusted sources. There are three levels of security that can be chosen for macros. These levels can be found by choosing the Macro Security button and are shown below:
With levels High or Medium, only macros from those listed under your Trusted Sources tab are allowed to automatically run. The only difference is, with the Medium level you can choose whether or not to run macros from other sources, whereas with the High level, only those listed under Trusted Sources are allowed to run. To add a macro developer to your Trusted Sources tab, first open the file or load the add-in that contains the macros. A Security warning box should be displayed at that time. Select Always trust macros from this source. If that option is not available in the Security warning box, then the macro hasn't been digitally signed. You cannot add a source to your Trusted Sources list without a digital signature.
To remove a source, select the name under the Trusted Sources tab and choose Remove.
In these times of heightened awareness regarding security, these options in Word 2002 come in handy for protecting the information in your documents, your personal information, and for protecting you as a user from unwanted viruses.