protecting macro code
 

Yes, I know that this is a subject frecuently asked, in fact, i want to
ask something related to a previous post

from
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...ca7c178874a1d2


2. steve
Sep 17 2003, 3:24 pm show options
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.excel.programming
From: "steve"
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:22:13 -0700
Local: Wed, Sep 17 2003 3:22 pm
Subject: protecting excel macros from being changed/ seen by user

Jon,

Go to the VBE

From the Tools menu protect the project with a password and save.

The next time the workbook is opened it will require a password to view
the code.

But remember a serious "hacker" can get in...

How can a "serious hacker" get the data? I mean, just playing a little
bit with an hex editor or what?

I used to program in Visual Basic years ago, and I remember that there
were something called OCX controlls(compiled code), wich can be embebed
into any MS office application. Are them still there in VB net?

regards- jm

protecting macro code
 

Go to the VBE

From the Tools menu protect the project with a password and save.

The next time the workbook is opened it will require a password to view
the code.

But remember a serious "hacker" can get in...

How can a "serious hacker" get the data? I mean, just playing a little
bit with an hex editor or what?

Yes - easy to find the method with a little googling


I used to program in Visual Basic years ago, and I remember that there
were something called OCX controlls(compiled code), wich can be embebed
into any MS office application. Are them still there in VB net?


In VB or VB.net you could wrap your code into a dll and use that from within
Excel. That would be much more secure than VBA.

Tim

protecting macro code
 

Another possible solution: obfuscate (= replace with functionally
equivalent, but very hard to understand) the VBA code within the
workbook.

Invisible Basic is an Excel Add-in for obfuscating the VBA code within
Excel workbooks. Using its "Save Invisibly As" command, you can create
a copy of your workbook whose code is obfuscated. That way, even if
they crack your password, all they will see is really ugly,
inscrutable, code.

It's free and open source and available at:

http://invisiblebasic.sourceforge.net/

Creating a separately compiled component likely is more secure, but
this approach is a lot easier (no separate compiler required). This is
a relatively new Addin and I'd very much appreciate any feedback on the
product the Excel/VBA brain trust associated with this newsgroup could
provide.

John