
- #Microsoft office 2000 compatibility pack update#
- #Microsoft office 2000 compatibility pack password#
- #Microsoft office 2000 compatibility pack series#
Different encryption types will allow for different key lengths. Note that the encryption key must be between 40 and 128 bits and cannot exceed 128 bits by default. Changing this to another option, such as ' RC4, Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Protoype)' will allow you to utilize up to 128 bit encryption. The option 'Office 97/2000 Compatible' will be selected. You can alter the default encryption settings by opening any Microsoft Office application, going to Tools -> Options and clicking the Security tab. Office 2003 SP2 addresses some of these problems. Even with the compatibility pack installed, Office 2003 cannot encrypt documents using the SHA-1 AES standard that is utilized by Office 2007 (however, they can read documents encrypted in this fashion, with caveats - see below).


Thus only Windows XP SP 2 and Vista can interpret the Office 2007 encryption format. Note, however, that Microsoft Office 2003 relies on encryption algorithms installed on the host system to enable advanced encryption settings. The "file formats new to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint 2007" refer to the 128 bit AES encryption and SHA-1 hashing used by Office 2007. "By installing the Compatibility Pack in addition to Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003, you will be able to open, edit, and save files using the file formats new to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007." This weakness is addressed by installing the Microsoft Office Compatability pack:
#Microsoft office 2000 compatibility pack password#
This meant that if an attacker observed multiple copies of a document (say as people e-mailed it back and forth with tracked changes) then the attacker could crack the password by comparing the various versions of the document. Originally in Office 2003, the encryption improperly used the RC4 stream cipher ( The Misuse of RC4 in Microsoft Word and Excel) with a 128-bit key with a common initialization vector and key stream for a document regardless of how many times it was encrypted.
#Microsoft office 2000 compatibility pack update#
Can documents encrypted with Office 2007 be read with Office 2003? Is a patch or other update necessary? Which one and why?.What was this weak form? Has this problem been addressed? How? What update or service pack addresses the problem? Microsoft Office 2003 used to use a weak form of encryption.

#Microsoft office 2000 compatibility pack series#
Through the course of writing this article I set to answer a series of questions that included the following:u There isn't a lot of good documentation online about the differences between Office 2003 and Office 2007 encryption schemes, but there have been some notable instances of weaknesses being pointed out in Microsoft encryption schemes. This article was designed to address some nagging questions about utilizing Microsoft Office encryption as well as compatibility issues between Office 2003 and Office 2007.
