O365-CO-000008 - Office applications must be configured to specify encryption type in password-protected Office 97-2003 files.

Information

This policy setting enables you to specify an encryption type for password-protected Office 97-2003 files.

If you enable this policy setting, you can specify the type of encryption that Office applications will use to encrypt password-protected files in the older Office 97-2003 file formats. The chosen encryption type must have a corresponding cryptographic service provider (CSP) installed on the computer that encrypts the file. See the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\Defaults\Provider\ registry key for a list of CSPs installed on the local computer. Specify the encryption type to use by entering it in the provided text box in the following form:

<Encryption Provider>,<Encryption Algorithm>,<Encryption Key Length>.
For example, Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic Provider v1.0,RC4,128

If you do not configure this policy setting, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word use Office 97/2000 Compatible encryption, a proprietary encryption method, to encrypt password-protected Office 97-2003 files.

Solution

Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2016 >> Security Settings >> Encryption type for password protected Office 97-2003 files to Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider,AES 256,256.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_MS_Office_365_ProPlus_V3R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-28, CAT|II, CCI|CCI-001199, Rule-ID|SV-223291r961128_rule, STIG-ID|O365-CO-000008, STIG-Legacy|SV-108759, STIG-Legacy|V-99655, Vuln-ID|V-223291

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 72496ed0feb0676c9e8fa771725f8c3736e39fb8886dde8191b267b73211f270