Hi,

I have developed a rather complex engineering spreadsheet over the past

few months which is to be released within my company very soon. I am
concerned over the security issues of an excel spreadsheet and would
like some advice. A similar peice of software is available on the
internet to buy but is now outdated and therefore I know that there
would be a lot of interest in the spreadsheet beyond my company. It
would be relatively easy for the spreadsheet to get out of the company
either by someone taking a copy with them when they leave or by issuing

the excel file to others instead of pdfs.


My question is how can I best secure my spreadsheet to prevent other
organisations from using it as their own? There are legal issues which
could affect my company should others make mistakes as a result of
using my spreadsheet; regardless of whether or not they used it with my

consent.


The spreadsheet currently has locked and hidden cells, password
protected sheets and password protected VBA code. I am aware that excel

passwords are relatively easy to crack, regardless of length or
complexity. Ideally I would like to convert the software to a
standalone application but am not prepared to pay for software to do
this as I dont intend on selling the spreadsheet and therefore cannot
recover the cost of any software.


Are there any more advanced security tools availble within excel that
can better protect my spreadsheet?


I thought about using the VBA to switch off all mens and buttons except

for open, save and save as such that it is not easy to unprotect the
sheets or enter the VBA processor but am not sure if this is any better

than doing nothing.


Any advice would be much appreciated.


Regards,


Lee