Configure the Help Improve Proofing Tools feature for Office.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-17627	DTOO182 - Office	SV-18770r1_rule	ECSC-1	Medium

Description
The Help Improve Proofing Tools feature collects data about use of the Proofing Tools, such as additions to the custom dictionary, and sends it to Microsoft. After about six months, the feature stops sending data to Microsoft and deletes the data collection file from the user's computer. Although this feature does not intentionally collect personal information, some of the content that is sent could include items that were marked as spelling or grammar errors, such as proper names and account numbers. However, any numbers such as account numbers, street addresses, and phone numbers are converted to zeroes when the data is collected. Microsoft uses this information solely to improve the effectiveness of the Office Proofing Tools, not to identify users. By default, this feature is enabled if users choose to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). If your organization has policies that govern the use of external resources such as the CEIP, allowing the use of the Help Improve Proofing Tools feature might cause them to violate these policies.

Description

The Help Improve Proofing Tools feature collects data about use of the Proofing Tools, such as additions to the custom dictionary, and sends it to Microsoft. After about six months, the feature stops sending data to Microsoft and deletes the data collection file from the user's computer. Although this feature does not intentionally collect personal information, some of the content that is sent could include items that were marked as spelling or grammar errors, such as proper names and account numbers. However, any numbers such as account numbers, street addresses, and phone numbers are converted to zeroes when the data is collected. Microsoft uses this information solely to improve the effectiveness of the Office Proofing Tools, not to identify users. By default, this feature is enabled if users choose to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). If your organization has policies that govern the use of external resources such as the CEIP, allowing the use of the Help Improve Proofing Tools feature might cause them to violate these policies.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office System 2007	2014-01-07

Details

Check Text ( C-18917r1_chk )
The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2007 system -> Tools \ Options \ Spelling -> Proofing Data Collection “Improve Proofing Tools” will be set to “Disabled”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\PTWatson Criteria: If the value PTWOptIn is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-18917r1_chk )

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2007 system -> Tools \ Options \ Spelling -> Proofing Data Collection “Improve Proofing Tools” will be set to “Disabled”.

Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key:

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\PTWatson

Criteria: If the value PTWOptIn is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-17537r1_fix)
The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2007 system -> Tools \ Options \ Spelling -> Proofing Data Collection “Improve Proofing Tools” will be set to “Disabled”. "Note: Group Policy Administrative Templates are available from the www.microsoft.com download site. The MS Office 2007 System (Office12.adm) is included in the AdminTemplates.exe file. This template provides the mechanisms to incorporate Microsoft Office 2007 System policies via the Microsoft Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)." "Note: If the Microsoft Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) is not used to incorporate the remediation to this vulnerability the Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) may be used to create the registry key and value required."

Fix Text (F-17537r1_fix)

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2007 system -> Tools \ Options \ Spelling -> Proofing Data Collection “Improve Proofing Tools” will be set to “Disabled”.

"Note: Group Policy Administrative Templates are available from the www.microsoft.com download site. The MS Office 2007 System (Office12.adm) is included in the AdminTemplates.exe file. This template provides the
mechanisms to incorporate Microsoft Office 2007 System policies via the Microsoft Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)."

"Note: If the Microsoft Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) is not used to incorporate the remediation to this vulnerability the Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) may be used to create the registry key and value required."