Free ebook: Security and Privacy for Microsoft Office Users

Update: You can now download this free ebook in three formats from the Microsoft Download Center: PDF, .mobi, and ePub.

We are very excited to announce that we are able to offer Security and Privacy for Microsoft Office 2010 Users (ISBN 9780735668836), by Mitch Tulloch, as a free ebook.

You can download a free copy of the ebook from the Microsoft Download center.

See below for the table of contents and an excerpt from the Introduction.

 

Take control—and put the built-in security and privacy features in Microsoft Office to work! Whether downloading documents, publishing a presentation, or collaborating online—this guide offers concise, how-to guidance and best practices to help protect your documents and your ideas.

• Get practical, proactive guidance for using the security and privacy management features in Office 2010 and Office 365

• Walk through everyday scenarios, and discover everyday techniques that help you take charge

• Understand common risks and learn best practices you can apply right away

 



Contents

Introduction 

Chapter 1 Why Should I Care?

· Hey, It’s Not My Responsibility!

· What’s My Role in This?

· Summary

Chapter 2 Alice Downloads a Document

· Working with Protected View

· Danger Ahead

· Inside Protected View

· Configuring Protected View

· Exiting Protected View

· Other Triggers for Protected View

· Understanding Trust

· Trusted Documents

· Trusted Locations

· Summary

Chapter 3 Bob Prepares a Policy

· Understanding Document Properties

· Working with Document Inspector

· Working with Digital Signatures

· What About Office 365?

· Summary

Chapter 4 Carol Collaborates on Some Content

· Encrypting a Document

· Restricting Editing

· Summary

Appendix
Index

 

Introduction (excerpt)

SECURITY AND PRIVACY issues with computers and computer networks are constantly in the news these days, and everyone seems to be concerned about them to some degree. Businesses everywhere are worried about having sensitive customer information such as credit card numbers or email addresses stolen, so they tell their information technology (IT) staff to make sure that everything is secure and locked down. And managers tell their office workers to follow corporate security policies and procedures closely or risk facing disciplinary consequences. As a result, the busy office workers sometimes feel as though they are between a rock and a hard place—management threatens them with the rock if they don’t follow the security guidelines, and IT just seems to make it harder for them to do their jobs.

Compounding these pressures are the software applications that office workers use to perform their work. While productivity software like Microsoft Office can be rich in features and capabilities, businesses often commit too little time and money to train their workers adequately in effectively using such software. The result is that the busy office worker can become the weak link in an organization’s efforts to secure and protect its information systems and data.

This book tries to fill the gap where Office is concerned, and it is intended as a guide to how to use the powerful security and privacy features of this platform effectively. Although the entire book applies to Office 2010, some of the content also can be helpful to businesses that use the cloud-based version of Office called Office 365.

Who This Book Is For

The target audience for this book is the Information Worker (IW), someone who works within an organization and whose primary job responsibility involves sharing, communicating, processing, or acting upon information stored on computer systems and networks. Workers in organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises, will benefit from this book.

Assumptions

The primary prerequisite for readers of this book is that they should have basic to intermediate-level familiarity with the following Office applications:

■ Microsoft Word 2010

■ Microsoft Excel 2010

■ Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

In addition, some familiarity with using Office 365 can be helpful but is not required.

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 1, “Why Should I Care?” begins by addressing some general questions that the typical office worker should consider, such as:

■ Why should I care about information security and privacy?

■ Isn’t that really the responsibility of other parties like management and IT?

■ What’s my own role in making sure our business information is kept secure and private?

After this come three chapters that involve different scenarios where fictitious office workers are faced with needing to understand and use the security and privacy features of Office to accomplish tasks for their jobs. These three chapters are titled:

■ Chapter 2, “Alice Downloads a Document”

■ Chapter 3, “Bob Prepares a Policy”

■ Chapter 4, “Carol Collaborates on Some Content”

The appendix, “Where to Learn More,” provides links to where the interested reader can learn more about the security and privacy features of Office.

You can read the book from cover to cover or simply jump to the chapter that interests you. But make sure you read Chapter 1 first, because it may help you start thinking about the subject in ways you haven’t thought of before.