Having read this text, many users will become unsure about
entrusting their secrets to Microsoft software. The answer is very simple –
use other software products to protect confidential information. For example,
one can use a reputable, thoroughly tested Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) software.
It is based on a well-known mathematical problem – factorization of a very
great number into prime numbers. There is no known (analytical) solution of
this problem, and exhaustion of all possible combinations will take forever –
even with state-of-the-art machines.
If you decide to protect your document with a password (to set
a file open password in Word or Excel) anyway, choose a complicated one. Avoid
using words from a dictionary, or your name/surname as a password. Your
password should consist of letters (both upper- and lower-case), numbers, and
special symbols. You can also use symbols from your national alphabet. A
secure password might look like this: “fO7#s!kP4x*a”. However please, note
that with today’s computers, decrypting your document won’t take longer than a
few days (or even hours on a LAN).