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I am not sure if this is right place to ask this question.

I have created an xls file to store all my password in it. lately I have uploaded same file on Google Drive to access it from remote computer as well.

My questions are:

  1. Is it safe enough to store passwords in XLS file with password on it?
  2. Is it safe to upload it online Drive and if that file gets stolen what could happen?
  3. Is easy enough for someone to break password and steal all passwords ?

Thank you for your help and time.

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As with any security question you must weigh convenience versus security. While it's quite convenient to have a sheet with all your passwords stored in the cloud for easy access, it's also quite convenient for someone that gains access to it to get all your passwords.

Doing a quick google search I found numerous pages stating how easy it is to crack MS Office documents/spreadsheet passwords. From what I gather cracking PDF passwords is also rather trivial. So to answer your questions:

  1. Getting back to security vs convenience while having a password on your excel spreadsheet might stop many attackers, it's by no means secure (especially if you name the file something like Passwords.xls or KeysToTheKingdom.xls). Your average user might not bother trying to crack the password on the file, but anyone with even slight interest could figure it out without a vast amount of effort.

  2. Safety is subjective, if it were me, no it's not safe, I use a password manager (KeePass) and I wouldn't feel very safe even storing its encrypted database file in the cloud. If someone manages to download the file and thus gains offline access to it or anything with a password, they can brute force it to their hearts content and no technical controls (account lockout for example) can stop them

  3. As noted above it appears to be rather trivial, I've never actually tried it myself but know of people that have done so successfully.

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