The encryption type for password protected Office 97 thru Office 2003 must be set.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-17617	DTOO190 - Office System	SV-33457r1_rule	ECSC-1	Medium

Description
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.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office System 2010	2012-06-22

Details

Check Text ( C-33940r1_chk )
The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “Encryption type for password protected Office 97-2003 files” must be set to “Enabled (Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 256,256)”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\common\security Criteria: If the value DefaultEncryption12 is REG_SZ = “Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 256,256", this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-33940r1_chk )

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “Encryption type for password protected Office 97-2003 files” must be set to “Enabled (Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 256,256)”.

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

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\common\security

Criteria: If the value DefaultEncryption12 is REG_SZ = “Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 256,256", this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-29629r1_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “Encryption type for password protected Office 97-2003 files” to “Enabled (Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 256,256)”.