312-49 · Question #365
Bill is the accounting manager for Grummon and Sons LLC in Chicago. On a regular basis, he needs to send PDF documents containing sensitive information through E-mail to his customers. Bill protects…
The correct answer is D. PDF passwords can easily be cracked by software brute force tools. PDF passwords can be cracked using freely available brute-force and dictionary attack tools (e.g., PDF Password Remover, Elcomsoft Advanced PDF Password Recovery). While PDF encryption itself may be reasonably strong, a weak or guessable password is the vulnerability. Attackers…
Question
Bill is the accounting manager for Grummon and Sons LLC in Chicago. On a regular basis, he needs to send PDF documents containing sensitive information through E-mail to his customers. Bill protects the PDF documents with a password and sends them to their intended recipients. Why PDF passwords do not offer maximum protection?
Options
- APDF passwords are converted to clear text when sent through E-mail
- BPDF passwords are not considered safe by Sarbanes-Oxley
- CWhen sent through E-mail, PDF passwords are stripped from the document completely
- DPDF passwords can easily be cracked by software brute force tools
How the community answered
(42 responses)- A2% (1)
- B5% (2)
- C7% (3)
- D86% (36)
Explanation
PDF passwords can be cracked using freely available brute-force and dictionary attack tools (e.g., PDF Password Remover, Elcomsoft Advanced PDF Password Recovery). While PDF encryption itself may be reasonably strong, a weak or guessable password is the vulnerability. Attackers do not need to intercept the email or strip the password - they simply run automated tools against the file after receiving or obtaining it. The other choices are incorrect: PDF passwords are not transmitted in cleartext, Sarbanes-Oxley does not rate specific encryption methods, and passwords are not stripped during email transit.
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