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 t
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 d
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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