When you create a PDF document, and passwords protect it, you would assume that it is completely private from others. However, it may come as a surprise that certain methods of protection do not completely block out sharing. PDFs that are password secured through Adobe can still be edited, printed, shared, viewed, manipulated, and more despite having permissions or restrictions added to them to prevent this. This misleading security proves Adobe to be untrustworthy in terms of privacy and reliability.

 

Not only is the password protection unsuccessful, but certificate encryption also fails as well in preventing editing, printing, copying and sharing. For those that do not know, certificate encryption, as defined by the Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC), is “A certificate containing a public key that can encrypt or decrypt electronic messages, files, documents, or data transmissions, or establish or exchange a session key for these same purposes.” It can verify that the document is coming from the owner by authenticating digital signatures to recipients. The certificate is stored via a digital ID. Basically, certificate encryption is the second layer of protection for a document. 

 

PDF protection is extremely important. Not only are users entitled to personal privacy, many businesses, banks, contractors, and medical centres require protected documents for confidential financial information, medical statements, copyright purposes, digital signatures, etc. Documents of such importance require public restrictions. 

 

One would think that Adobe would validate their protection methods, and not allow leaks, especially after the catastrophic event of 2013, where countless accounts of Adobe were breached. According to BBC, the confirmed cyber attack infiltrated over 38 million users of Adobe. Encrypted passwords, Photoshop accounts, and ColdFusion are just a few of the many pieces of software that were accessed by the hacker. As a result, Photoshop shifted to a subscription account, which actually turned into a moneymaker for Adobe. Otherwise, people with accounts needed to get new ones. This disaster was seriously harmful to Adobe’s reputation. 

 

Technology companies run the risk of security failure constantly. It is one of the dangers of working for such brands. It can take just one mistake – one hacker – to make it all crash. Fortunately, for Adobe, they were able to recover, because they were so originally successful. 

 

For the most part, password protection from Adobe is secure, on the surface level. However, PDFs may allow some unwanted publicity through just a few shortcuts: 

Once a user has the password, they can easily convert the PDF into an unsecured version either through readily available software or even the Google Chrome browser.

While your user may not have malicious intent, they may become frustrated with having to locate the password each time they open the file and convert it to a format they can use.

Users may also take screenshots or even recordings of the file and convert those into other shareable file formats.

 

Not to mention the guessability of most passwords. Even though Adobe requires an 8-character password with a digit, letter, and special character additive, expert hackers are able to easily determine the correct combination with the right equipment.

 

All in all, it is extremely difficult to know whether any document is 100 per cent secured, through Adobe or not, because modern hacking technology is so intelligent. There are a few ways to make a password more secure than it already may be, though. For example, it is essential that someone does not make their password something related to their personal life. Using birthdays, names, pets, schools, addresses, etc. are not smart options when it comes to creating a password. Information like this can easily be found on websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Ancestry.com, 23 & Me, and also just on the internet, Through a Google search.

 

If you make your password have anything to do with your identity, it is inherently a weak password. Secondly, if you use the same password for all of your accounts, it can be very dangerous. Even if the password is strong and difficult to determine, it does not matter, because if it is broken, then all of your confidential personal accounts may be hacked. Rather than just your Instagram account getting hacked, you also risk your bank account getting accessed. This is not a smart decision. Finally, you want to make sure that you are not using common combinations that just anyone can guess. “1234” or “password1” are some of the first guesses people will use as passwords (Webroot.com), so it is critical to keep these out of your passcode vocabulary. At the end of the day, the lesson learned that even though a document may be encrypted and password protected, it does not mean that it is entirely secure. It may just be a weak password issue.

 

Certificate encryption may not prevent PDFs from being shared, edited, and printed, but they are useful for a lot of other types of intrapersonal security. Coming from the source itself, Adobe explains the safest way to use and share a certificate: “Businesses that use certificates for secure workflows often store certificates on a directory server that participants can search to expand their list of trusted identities. When you receive a certificate from someone, you can add it to your list of trusted identities. You can set your trust settings to trust all digital signatures and certified documents created with a specific certificate. You can also import certificates from a certificate store, such as the Windows certificate store. A certificate store often contains numerous certificates issued by different certification authorities.” Even though there are some instances that your document may not be completely protected, at least investing in the most secure process would raise your chances of defence. 

 

If someone wants another layer of protection, setting up two-factor authentication is smart. This way, they would need passwords from a secondary personal device to access the document. One of the most common sites that offers two-factor authentication is DuoPush but there are many others.

 

Some people may think that the leaking of a few PDFs is not that big of a deal. But, this issue could actually lead to detrimental, life-changing damage, such as identity theft. Thankfully the issue here is not the block of access from the owner, creator, or user. Rather, it is the intentional ability to share with others. Which, of course, can get messy if given to the wrong set of hands.

 

Fortunately, with this type of inadequate protection, it does not mean that all hope is lost as you may also be able to add document tracking. So, even in the critical event that the private document does not remain private, it is uncomplicated to pinpoint the person who illegally accessed it. From there, proper consequences can be given.

 

In conclusion, Adobe offers viable methods of document protection, but nothing can secure a PDF with certainty. There may always be an option to edit, print, and share a document due to other vulnerabilities. Even though encryption, complete safety is not on the table. However, there are ways that you can increase security, such as using DRM or Digital Rights Management to protect PDF files. PDF DRM provides persistent protection and prevents users from removing restrictions. At least, this way, you can have confidence that you are doing as much as you can to keep PDFs protected.

 

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