Password protect hidden cells

Thanks you Jim,

Is there something I'm missing then. Any idea as to why you can take a
document that is password protected with hidden cells/columns or rows and
copy the entire document to a new workbook and where all the hidden,
"protected" cells are then displayed?

How do you prevent this? I would assume it would be possible because if it
wasn't why would they waste their time creating the password/proctection
functionality.

If not, what about building a Excel spreadsheet in Visual Studio with the
office tool kit. Could you hard code and app to gain this functionality?

Thanks.

kris



"Jim Rech" wrote:

> It's not possible. Any solution that prevents copying would rely on macros.
> But a user could thwart that by disabling macros. Excel is simply not a
> good repository of sensitive information.
>
> --
> Jim
> "kfrost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> | Update:
> |
> | What I've found is the password is staying in place. However if you
> select
> | all the cells in the protected document and the copy them and past them
> into
> | a different workbook. All the hidden cells are copied and displayed in
> the
> | new work book. So it appears I'm looking for a way to disable the
> copy/cut
> | functionality from the worksheets.
> |
> | Any ideas?
> |
> |
> |
> | "kfrost" wrote:
> |
> | > Hello,
> | >
> | > I have a customer who has sale people that have product spreadsheets for
> | > pricing. They have wholesale and retail pricing on the same sheet. The
> | > wholesale prices they hide and password protect, however, the problem is
> you
> | > can open the spreadsheet in read only mode and then save a copy of it.
> Then
> | > open the saved copy and the password protection is then removed.
> | >
> | > I'm trying to find a way to prevent this. However in searching it
> appears
> | > that the password is pretty much insecure any way. So my thoughts are
> using
> | > MS office tools for VS and creating an Excel Project and hard coding the
> | > password into the document for them.
> | >
> | > First of all if anybody has a better suggestion on how to secure these
> | > hidden cells where only sales person have access to them, I would love
> to
> | > hear it. Secondly if building and compiling the app is the best way,
> does
> | > anybody have a sample for VB.Net?
> | >
> | > Thanks.
> | >
> | > kris
> | >
> | >
>
>
>

>>Is there something I'm missing then.

I think so. I'd say that protection in general is there to keep people from
inadvertently mucking with your workbook. Say you set it up in a certain
way to get information or to help users calculate a result. You hide stuff
more as a matter of cosmetics than to keep it truly secret. It was never
intended as security.

Excel is Excel. If you automate an Excel workbook from another app or from
a DLL you still have a workbook that can be opened independently and
'explored'.

On the other hand if the sensitive data/calculations never gets to an Excel
workbook then that issue goes away. Say all of that was in a DLL and that
Excel is used only as a presentation vehicle of the final results. That's
the only answer I can think of but then you lose Excel's calculational
power. And you have to know how to write such a DLL.

--
Jim
"kfrost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| Thanks you Jim,
|
| Is there something I'm missing then. Any idea as to why you can take a
| document that is password protected with hidden cells/columns or rows and
| copy the entire document to a new workbook and where all the hidden,
| "protected" cells are then displayed?
|
| How do you prevent this? I would assume it would be possible because if
it
| wasn't why would they waste their time creating the password/proctection
| functionality.
|
| If not, what about building a Excel spreadsheet in Visual Studio with the
| office tool kit. Could you hard code and app to gain this functionality?
|
| Thanks.
|
| kris
|
|
|
| "Jim Rech" wrote:
|
| > It's not possible. Any solution that prevents copying would rely on
macros.
| > But a user could thwart that by disabling macros. Excel is simply not a
| > good repository of sensitive information.
| >
| > --
| > Jim
| > "kfrost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
| > news:[email protected]...
| > | Update:
| > |
| > | What I've found is the password is staying in place. However if you
| > select
| > | all the cells in the protected document and the copy them and past
them
| > into
| > | a different workbook. All the hidden cells are copied and displayed
in
| > the
| > | new work book. So it appears I'm looking for a way to disable the
| > copy/cut
| > | functionality from the worksheets.
| > |
| > | Any ideas?
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > | "kfrost" wrote:
| > |
| > | > Hello,
| > | >
| > | > I have a customer who has sale people that have product spreadsheets
for
| > | > pricing. They have wholesale and retail pricing on the same sheet.
The
| > | > wholesale prices they hide and password protect, however, the
problem is
| > you
| > | > can open the spreadsheet in read only mode and then save a copy of
it.
| > Then
| > | > open the saved copy and the password protection is then removed.
| > | >
| > | > I'm trying to find a way to prevent this. However in searching it
| > appears
| > | > that the password is pretty much insecure any way. So my thoughts
are
| > using
| > | > MS office tools for VS and creating an Excel Project and hard coding
the
| > | > password into the document for them.
| > | >
| > | > First of all if anybody has a better suggestion on how to secure
these
| > | > hidden cells where only sales person have access to them, I would
love
| > to
| > | > hear it. Secondly if building and compiling the app is the best
way,
| > does
| > | > anybody have a sample for VB.Net?
| > | >
| > | > Thanks.
| > | >
| > | > kris
| > | >
| > | >
| >
| >
| >

Thanks for the input Jim, if what you say is correct then I have an issue
with the wording of the help in Excel and the way they describe security and
protection. With what you've stated the product doesn't live up to what is
described in the help files. Because they talk about security/protection,
strong passwords etc so nobody can access the protected items. But if you
can just copy and paste to another worksheet that's a security breach or flaw.

As a matter of fact the product should be advertised as you have mentioned
and the word security should be removed all together from the documentation.

Again, I appreciate your help. I'm taking this up with the Office team
directly to get an official word before scrapping excel for something else.

Thank you.



"Jim Rech" wrote:

> >>Is there something I'm missing then.
>
> I think so. I'd say that protection in general is there to keep people from
> inadvertently mucking with your workbook. Say you set it up in a certain
> way to get information or to help users calculate a result. You hide stuff
> more as a matter of cosmetics than to keep it truly secret. It was never
> intended as security.
>
> Excel is Excel. If you automate an Excel workbook from another app or from
> a DLL you still have a workbook that can be opened independently and
> 'explored'.
>
> On the other hand if the sensitive data/calculations never gets to an Excel
> workbook then that issue goes away. Say all of that was in a DLL and that
> Excel is used only as a presentation vehicle of the final results. That's
> the only answer I can think of but then you lose Excel's calculational
> power. And you have to know how to write such a DLL.
>
> --
> Jim
> "kfrost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> | Thanks you Jim,
> |
> | Is there something I'm missing then. Any idea as to why you can take a
> | document that is password protected with hidden cells/columns or rows and
> | copy the entire document to a new workbook and where all the hidden,
> | "protected" cells are then displayed?
> |
> | How do you prevent this? I would assume it would be possible because if
> it
> | wasn't why would they waste their time creating the password/proctection
> | functionality.
> |
> | If not, what about building a Excel spreadsheet in Visual Studio with the
> | office tool kit. Could you hard code and app to gain this functionality?
> |
> | Thanks.
> |
> | kris
> |
> |
> |
> | "Jim Rech" wrote:
> |
> | > It's not possible. Any solution that prevents copying would rely on
> macros.
> | > But a user could thwart that by disabling macros. Excel is simply not a
> | > good repository of sensitive information.
> | >
> | > --
> | > Jim
> | > "kfrost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> | > news:[email protected]...
> | > | Update:
> | > |
> | > | What I've found is the password is staying in place. However if you
> | > select
> | > | all the cells in the protected document and the copy them and past
> them
> | > into
> | > | a different workbook. All the hidden cells are copied and displayed
> in
> | > the
> | > | new work book. So it appears I'm looking for a way to disable the
> | > copy/cut
> | > | functionality from the worksheets.
> | > |
> | > | Any ideas?
> | > |
> | > |
> | > |
> | > | "kfrost" wrote:
> | > |
> | > | > Hello,
> | > | >
> | > | > I have a customer who has sale people that have product spreadsheets
> for
> | > | > pricing. They have wholesale and retail pricing on the same sheet.
> The
> | > | > wholesale prices they hide and password protect, however, the
> problem is
> | > you
> | > | > can open the spreadsheet in read only mode and then save a copy of
> it.
> | > Then
> | > | > open the saved copy and the password protection is then removed.
> | > | >
> | > | > I'm trying to find a way to prevent this. However in searching it
> | > appears
> | > | > that the password is pretty much insecure any way. So my thoughts
> are
> | > using
> | > | > MS office tools for VS and creating an Excel Project and hard coding
> the
> | > | > password into the document for them.
> | > | >
> | > | > First of all if anybody has a better suggestion on how to secure
> these
> | > | > hidden cells where only sales person have access to them, I would
> love
> | > to
> | > | > hear it. Secondly if building and compiling the app is the best
> way,
> | > does
> | > | > anybody have a sample for VB.Net?
> | > | >
> | > | > Thanks.
> | > | >
> | > | > kris
> | > | >
> | > | >
> | >
> | >
> | >
>
>
>