Millions of companies and individuals are publishing
their secrets without knowing it, thanks toMicrosoft Office.
John Ivory, director of applied research at
Dolphin Technology, said, "When you copy a portion of an Excel
file into a PowerPoint, you actually copy the entire
Excel spreadsheet, not just the bit you want.
"When you edit a Word document, all of the metadata, the edits,
the comments and other identifying features are ripe for the
picking."
These unintentional slips can reveal confidential information
such as sales, prospect and customer data, employee names,
responsibilities and reporting structures, amongst others.
Ivory plans to show just how presentations, often given away in
electronic form at conferences and on websites, can reveal
government, corporate and personal secrets at InfowarCon 2007 in
Bethesda, MD from 19-21 September.
"Delegates will see at first hand just how many secrets we are
giving away. They will be able to bring their own files and have
them dissected. They will see the national secrets we have given
away because we are using the wrong programs to distribute and
publish information," he said.