DTOO190 - Set encryption type for password protected Office 97 thru Office 2003 files - XP installed and Office 2007 SP2 installed

Information

If unencrypted files are intercepted, sensitive information in the files can be compromised. To protect information confidentiality, Microsoft Office application files can be encrypted and password protected. Only users who know the correct password will be able to decrypt such files.
By default, Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, and Word 2007 use Office 97/2000 Compatible encryption, a proprietary encryption method, to encrypt password-protected Office 97-2003 files.

Solution

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2007 system -> Security Settings 'Encryption type for password protected Office 97-2003 files' will be set to 'Enabled (Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 128,128)' for NON XP OSs or 'Enabled (Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Prototype?,AES 128,128)' for XP os.

NOTE- 'Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 128,128' is minimum setting required where can be up to key length of 256 if environment will support as 'Enabled (Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 256,256)' or 'Enabled (Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Prototype),AES 256,256)'

See Also

http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/app_security/office_auto/u_microsoft_office2007_v4r9_stig_20121026.zip

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-13, CAT|II, Rule-ID|SV-18755r3_rule, STIG-ID|DTOO190, Vuln-ID|V-17617

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 8ef64f733ed173cb3327394c5c4dccfd5d715e462bd17e660c06293f4249227a