How to make a spreadsheet (be it Google Sheets or MS Excel) secure?


Recommended Posts

A word document too actually.

 

I was unsure whether to post here due to the 'security' part of the forum title or in the software forum.

 

Very brief backstory - i manage the accounts of 4 other family members including myself and as they don't fully know the ins and outs i need to put something together in the event that i drop dead in 5mins they would be able to make some kind of sense of it all and know what is where and why as well as what they should do (since they're not as 'into' it as me).

 

Now i was looking at storing in Google Drive and sharing these files as read-only BUT on looking in to it the advice is simply for what the data is, just don't do it. I'm not talking usernames & passwords but account numbers yes. Not just Google Drive but anything cloud based the advice was pretty much don't do it, not worth it.

 

So i'm wondering about an alternative. I don't really know what's available out there so to my little mind i can only currently think of using MS Word/Excel, filling in all the info, putting this on a USB stick and then somehow encrypting the stick. If that sounds acceptable then please go ahead & suggest ways to encrypt or encryption programs because that's all new to me.

 

Now we could get ahead of ourselves and say what about if my town gets flooded and where the family live 4 miles away don't. What if the UK suffers the worlds biggest earthquake and what if we're taken over by aliens but the chances are very slim and as far as that goes i'll take my chances.

 

Again if it's a sound idea then i was thinking storing on a USB drive at my house as well as the other house where 3 of the 5 family members live, again encrypted. Any changes then i just simply change it on the stick. The most up to date one will forever be my stick but theirs wont be too far behind and should be the same really.

 

Feedback?

 

Oh and if this would be better suited in the software forum after all then please move it there.

Cloud I think is still a valid option.

 

Why not zip and password protect each file with a different password for each family. You can upload and each family can download but won't be able to access those files. 

 

That way you don't have to worry about USB sticks either.

  On 20/12/2018 at 11:56, dipsylalapo said:

Cloud I think is still a valid option.

 

Why not zip and password protect each file with a different password for each family. You can upload and each family can download but won't be able to access those files. 

 

That way you don't have to worry about USB sticks either.

Expand  

It's not a case of one family member not being able to see another family members info. That's not really a big deal here. It's the protecting the info that's inside.

 

What zip and password setup would you use? Standard Windows zip or something moreso for this kind of thing?

 

  On 20/12/2018 at 12:03, Ready2018 said:

It's very simple to make Excel spreadsheets secure by simply adding encrypting with a password:

 

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-password-protect-an-excel-file/

Expand  

That looks like it might do the job.

 

How can you stop people changing the information within the sheet though? They'll have the password but how do you make it read only?

I get a bit lost with the terminology but within the 1 file there'll be numerous 'pages' (tabs at the bottom) for differing family members.

 

 

And would you protect this file even further than sticking an internal password on it as shown in your link? Or should that be perfectly fine?

This was already discussed like 2 months ago.. You were told then to just encrypt your file - back then you said when you encrypted stuff it didn't work later... So how is it now you are ok with encryption/passwording a file?

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 2
  On 20/12/2018 at 12:32, BudMan said:

This was already discussed like 2 months ago.. You were told then to just encrypt your file - back then you said when you encrypted stuff it didn't work later... So how is it now you are ok with encryption/passwording a file?

Expand  

I trust you that encrypting is for the best and that when passwording a zip file in the past i must have done something wrong. Not sure what but something. Wrong file types maybe, too large maybe, who knows. These will be just small documents though.

  On 20/12/2018 at 14:11, Technique said:

I trust you that encrypting is for the best and that when passwording a zip file in the past i must have done something wrong. Not sure what but something. Wrong file types maybe, too large maybe, who knows. These will be just small documents though.

Expand  

What? It's farily simple. Don't know what you are trying to do...

  On 20/12/2018 at 16:09, Technique said:

Why?

Expand  

Why what?

 

Choose your poison:

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+encrypt+a+zip+file

  On 20/12/2018 at 16:38, Mindovermaster said:

Why what?

 

Expand  

Why do you not know what i'm trying to do when i've said what i'm trying to do?

 

Part of my post doesn't show up on your screen?

Although ... since when did WinZip become a to pay for piece of software? :o That was always free years ago. Sure i know there's the trial version but only for 21 days. As i don't plan on dying within the next 21 days then it's not very good.

 

The WinRAR version i have is A) old and B) technically not legit. Ok it's really not legit. And with this kind of thing i can't afford anything going wrong so it needs to be right.

  On 20/12/2018 at 17:10, Technique said:

Why do you not know what i'm trying to do when i've said what i'm trying to do?

 

Part of my post doesn't show up on your screen?

Expand  

We talked about this awhile ago. Then you make a new thread on exactly the same thing.

  On 20/12/2018 at 17:12, Technique said:

Although ... since when did WinZip become a to pay for piece of software? :o That was always free years ago. Sure i know there's the trial version but only for 21 days. As i don't plan on dying within the next 21 days then it's not very good.

 

The WinRAR version i have is A) old and B) technically not legit. Ok it's really not legit. And with this kind of thing i can't afford anything going wrong so it needs to be right.

Expand  

Zip is open source now. Zip should be integrated to Windows 10.

Just gnupg the files FREE... HIGHLY encrypted!

 

https://www.gnupg.org/

 

Way stronger than just a Password you could forget ;)

 

Or just use 7z, allows encryption as well.

 

Been doing this stuff for years.. Here is my oldest key - from 1998

oldestkey.thumb.png.32520689739c67854994137cfab4bc84.png

 

Still can access files encrypted to it...

 

  On 20/12/2018 at 17:28, Mindovermaster said:

 

Zip is open source now. Zip should be integrated to Windows 10.

Expand  

I don't use Windows 10. I'm on Windows 7 until something comes along which i prefer the look of.

 

  On 20/12/2018 at 19:06, BudMan said:

 

Way stronger than just a Password you could forget ;)

 

 

Expand  

That's something i meant to ask about...

 

Excel & Word (i'm using Office 2010 btw) offer the option to put passwords on the documents from within the document itself when you go to the save as. You can 2 layer them with read only and the option to write - a different password for each.

 

How secure is that? And is encrypting really better? Should it be done in addition to the passwording?

 

I imagine once it's been passworded / encrypted / both that it should be perfectly fine in a Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive / USB stick?

  On 20/12/2018 at 20:26, Technique said:

Excel & Word (i'm using Office 2010 btw) offer the option to put passwords on the documents from within the document itself when you go to the save as.

Expand  

I believe we told you that before.

 

  On 20/12/2018 at 20:26, Technique said:

How secure is that? And is encrypting really better? Should it be done in addition to the passwording?

Expand  

encrypting is encrypting. No matter how you look at it. Think Budman said "highly encrypted" meaning there is more credentials than just a password.

 

  On 20/12/2018 at 20:26, Technique said:

I imagine once it's been passworded / encrypted / both that it should be perfectly fine in a Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive / USB stick?

Expand  

Yeah, store wherever you want. Once you put a password, it can not be opened but by the person who knows the password.

 

Right from Wikipedia: 

 

  Quote

In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding a message or information in such a way that only authorized parties can access it and those who are not authorized cannot. 

Expand  

 

So from what you say then, there is little difference between passwording and encrypting.

 

Passwords: "it can only be opened by the person who knows the password".

Encrypting: "encryption makes the file so that only authorized people can view it as it should be".

 

Either way only those with the green light get to see what the file is about.

 

So on that note is it even worth doing the extra level of encrypting?

Encryption with a password is only going to be as strong as the password.. Doesn't matter if its AES-256, if your password is p@55word ;)

 

With encryption with a cert, like with gnupg.. You not going to decrypt it without having the cert to decrypt it with... So for example - is private key

 

-----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----
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=5MjH
-----END PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----

You need that - and then that is even protected by a password.. So even if you got that file, you would also need to know what the password is..

Passwording is ONE way of encrypting. There are different types of encryption.

 

You wanted to password protect it. AKA, encrypt it.

 

You are asking your own understanding.

  On 20/12/2018 at 21:20, Mindovermaster said:

 

You are asking your own understanding.

Expand  

And i make no secret of the fact it is limited - hence me being here.

 

I'm not the one running around these forums trying to play the big man ;)

Just tried that gnupg.

 

W

T

F

???

 

I've seen mention of Veracrypt and Axcrypt. I'll see if they make more sense to me (i.e. whether they're more user friendly). this gnup thing may be easy for you but you clearly know what you're doing.

Dude, it's not hard. You just have to LEARN how to use it. That goes with ANY program made by human hands.

 

But, as Budman said:

  Quote

Encryption with a password is only going to be as strong as the password.. Doesn't matter if its AES-256, if your password is p@55word 

Expand  

If you always want the easiest way out, you'll never learn.

 

(btw, GNUPG is integrated into Linux, too...)

Its right click encrypt... Maybe computers are just not your thing.. Maybe you should just stick to disk you stick in a player ;)

encrypt.thumb.png.5285a6cf7a661b58c960189f49c8ae6e.png

 

No offense dude - but your like trying to talk to my 4 year old grandson when it comes to anything that has anything to do with tech at all.. Your like in the 1950's or something..  You actually use computers??

 

I'm not talking about compiling your own drivers for your wifi card..  Or your linux kernel.. Im talking about following the bouncing ball the software walks you through and then right clicking..  I could prob walk my 90 year old mother in law through this stuff ;)

 

Does your phone flip up, or do you actually have a current phone.. Maybe you still dial it?  Im OLD dude.. in my 50's... So I remember all the OLD ######... I remember the vhs/beta wars.. And rotary phones, etc..   This is pretty basic ######..  Talking to you is like talking to my 90 year old mother in law about tech..

 

Just really at a loss to how someone smart enough to find such a forum from back in 2003 could be so behind when it comes to basic tech..

 

  • Thanks 1

While we're with these 'does' questions...

 

does throwing these jibes make you feel like a big man? Do they give you a sense of achievement?

 

I'll admit my patience is zero. Things need to work first time. I opened the program and tried encrypting a file and it didn't work. When i was on the download page i actually had a feeling of 'here we go' as it looked like one of those geeky sites that Linux nerds would use, the sort of people who try and tell the world Windows is the devil and they should switch to Mac or preferably as it's less mainstream ... Linux (yeah since we're going with the put downs for no reason i'll have my turn, now it's your turn about how i'm so behind technology again, on you go....)

 

If it helps any then it seems to have installed 'Kleopatra' on my machine.

 

Is this Veracrypt any 'easier'?

 

And regardless of which encryption software is used, will it be needed to be installed on the machine that uses it or will they only need the password? For example, i am now dead (so no more annoying questions for you to see, woo-hoo and all that), they jump on Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive / the USB stick at my house or theirs, they have a Windows laptop and a Macbook (sister is a Mac owner, currently), do they just open the file with the password or do they need the program that was used to encrypt it?

kleopatra.thumb.jpg.8740643895e23ed54aeb404716cbf0fd.jpg

Edited by Technique

What didn't work why encrypting it? As Budman says, It's very very easy...

 

Try putting it on a USB flash drive and hide it somewhere...

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Meta is now using every possible source to power its data centers by Hamid Ganji Chip shortage is not the only obstacle hindering AI development. The insatiable thirst for electricity from data centers has caused serious problems for tech giants, to the point where they have been forced to invest heavily in purchasing nuclear power plants. However, green and renewable energy could also serve as an alternative power source for data centers. As reported by Reuters, Meta has signed four deals with Renewable energy developer Invenergy to supply 791 megawatts (MW) of solar and wind power for its data centers. This is the second green deal between Meta and Invenergy to supply renewable energy to Meta's data centers, following the firms' signing of contracts last year for 760 MW of solar electricity. According to Invenergy, the latest deal soars Meta's renewable energy purchases to 1,800 MW. The green energy will come from Invenergy's projects in Ohio, Arkansas, and Texas. While renewable energy has a more limited capacity compared to methods like nuclear power, it still holds significant potential to meet some of the data center's energy needs. Moreover, investing in renewable energy aligns with Big Tech's net-zero plans. Last year, Meta announced a request for proposals (RFP) to identify nuclear energy developers in the United States. The company plans to generate 1-4 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear power by early 2030. Also, in June this year, Meta and energy company Constellation announced plans to revive an aging nuclear power plant in Illinois that has been shut down since 2017 due to financial losses. Meta could rely on this nuclear power plant for the next 20 years. While some major tech companies were committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, the soaring power demands from AI data centers could render all those green plans obsolete. That is why these companies have called for reforms to net-zero rules, as achieving their ambitious net-zero goals by 2040 seems highly unlikely.
    • Mozilla fixes Firefox crashes on startup and other issues by Taras Buria Just two days after releasing Firefox 140 to the Release channel, Mozilla is dropping a small update to address two bugs in version 140. Firefox 140.0.1 is now available for download, addressing crashes on startup and issues with contrast in the sidebar when using dark themes (black text appears on dark backgrounds, making it impossible to read). Here is the changelog that Mozilla published in the official documentation: Fixed text contrast issues in the sidebar with some dark themes. (Bug 1971487) Fixed a startup crash experienced by some users caused by DLL injection. (Bug 1973947) You can update Firefox to the latest version by heading to Menu > Help > About Firefox. Alternatively, you can get it from the official website or the Microsoft Store (Windows 10 and 11). In case you missed it, Firefox 140 arrived on June 24. It introduced several important changes, including the ability to resize the pinned tab section when using vertical tabs (more upgrades are coming to the browser in this area), custom search engine support, tab unloading via right-click, various security fixes, and more. The update also removed the Pocket toolbar icon and the Pocket integration on the new tab page. Mozilla recently killed Pocket and Fakesport in order to focus more on its main product, the Firefox browser. You can find full release notes for Firefox 140.0.1 in our dedicated article.
    • I really don't get why Outer Worlds 2 is being brought into conversation so often. In Romania: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 1 launched at 80 euros on EPIC, FOUR YEARS AGO and then at 80 euros on Steam sometime later. Black Ops 6 last year? 80 euros. DOOM The Dark Ages? It launched at 80 euros. "Xbox Game Studios’ first game out of the gates with the increased price" => literally the 3rd Xbox studio title with that pricing for me. They can all get bent.
    • MSFT it's getting stupid under Satya Nadella's management. Instead of dogfooding their own technology like WinUI3 they insist in pushing this web garbage packed of copilot malware. As an old enthusiast of MSFT since 90's I'm almost becoming a hater of MSFT because of suck kind of stupid decisions like these. 1) Pushing copilot hard on it's user's thought, every time and e everywhere. 2) Instead of favoring it's own NATIVE UI framework like WinUI or .NET MAUI (poor maui) to showcase the market they are very confident about their software development tools, no they just to what's easier for them and completely ignore it's user's feedback. My guess is that pretty soon they will figure it out that AI won't be all that big thing and when they realize the colossal investments that they made on AI would better served if they invested in their own .NET frameworks.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      Kavin25 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      Leonard grant earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      pcdoctorsnet earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rising Star
      Phillip0web went up a rank
      Rising Star
    • One Month Later
      Epaminombas earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      532
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      207
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      170
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      148
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      125
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!