Old versions of MS Office
applications
Microsoft Word 2.0, 6.0 and 95 (7.0), Excel
4.0, 5.0 and 95 (7.0) are using even less powerful encrypting algorithm. To
encrypt a document, an exclusive OR operation (XOR) with a sequence derived
from the password is being used. As some (predictable) auxiliary information
is encrypted, too, that sequence can be recovered. So, file open password in
these Word and Excel versions can be retrieved in a fraction of second.
Applications for password recovery: