2.3.27.11 (L1) Ensure 'Disable password to open UI' is set to 'Disabled'

Information

This policy setting controls whether Office users can add password encryption to documents. (Users would access this feature in Microsoft Office tab--click Info, click Protect Document, then click Encrypt with Password.)

The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled

This capability can provide an extra level of protection to documents that are already protected by access control lists or provide a means of securing documents that are not protected by file-level security.

If a document is password protected, users without the proper password will be prevented from opening the document(s).

Solution

To establish the recommended state via configuration profiles, set the following Settings Catalog path to Disabled :

Microsoft Office 2016\Security Settings\Disable password to open UI

Impact:

The recommended settings enforce the default configuration, and therefore will not affect usability. Typically, this setting should not be enabled, because doing so will prevent users from adding passwords to Office files.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/15808

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-13

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: d5b314b00443dc209744f2dfdb0142ccc6ab4338b02596a92cad961ec08a2dd9