Forum Discussion
Is it really impossible to break workbook protection?
Hi,
I process personal data and need strict protection (GDPR). My raw data from a survey is copied to several worksheets in a workbook and the processed anonymous data (dashboards) is in other worksheets in the same workbook.
Before sending the whole workbook with the visible dashboards to my customers I delete some of the raw data worksheets and hide others. After that I protect the structure of the workbook with a code. Now only the worksheets with the dashboards are visible.
Will it at all be possible for my customers to break the protection and get access to the sensitive raw personal data or am I completely safe?
Thanks in advance to your reply!
Best regards Per
Yes, Excel protection is mainly the protection from the errors due to negligence. Simplest case, if you hide Sheet1 and protect structure, anyone could write in Sheet2 formulas like =Sheet1!A1 and pick-up information from hided sheet in protected structure. To find actual name of the Sheet1 is also not a big deal.
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Sheet protection and Workbook protection are coded into the file's XML (Presuming you're using an xlsx workbook) and can be removed easily. If you want something stronger I'd recommend setting a password to open and/or modify. Also, there's Information Rights Management.
Thanks for your answer. It makes sense. However I have also protected the workbook with a password for opening and anonymised all names with random numbers. Finally I have deleted all content in the hidden worksheets and deleted all previous versions of the workbook before sending to customer.
Do you think all this gives 100% protection?
