Create redacted PDFs with new Office plug-in
A new Microsoft Office plug-in from Foxit Software, developed in cooperation with Microsoft, allow users to protect confidential copy in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Users simply mark confidential copy for redaction within the Office application and then generate redacted PDF documents.
The company says that unlike other redaction tools, Redactor for Office offers the flexibility of creating a simple redacted PDF or, alternatively, a hybrid PDF that redacts sensitive content by default, while making it visible to authorised people under Microsoft Rights Management Services (RMS).
Threatened by potential brand erosion, lawsuits and privacy regulations, organisations are seeking foolproof methods to securely redact confidential information. Additionally, they frequently want to preserve the confidential data and make it visible to select people who should have access.
“Foxit Redactor for Office addresses a persistent problem in the digital world,” said David Rand, Foxit vice president of marketing.
“There have been numerous news stories about companies and government agencies that thought they had redacted sensitive information from PDF documents, only find out later that the data under the black boxes was not properly removed or hidden. For example, a medical council recently breached the privacy of a doctor because they didn’t understand how redaction and PDFs work.”
The Foxit Redactor is recommended for anyone who highly values information security, governance, and control, especially those who need to restrict access to documents. With it, users who create documents with sensitive information in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can create redacted PDF documents where sensitive information is whited out (or blacked out) within the documents for sharing or archiving.
Foxit Redactor for Office allows knowledge workers and organizations to secure confidential sections of documents against unauthorised access or modifications.
Users can generate simple redacted PDF documents or hybrid RMS-protected PDF documents. People with RMS access rights to a hybrid document will be able to view the full content. People without access rights can only see the redacted file.
“This solves a huge problem for lawyers and anyone who has to control who sees what,” said Thomas L. Bowden, a US attorney with over 30 years of experience. “Secure redaction in PDFs is great. But being able to grant access to the redacted information to authorised parties is revolutionary.”
Foxit Redactor for Office is available for an introductory price of $US9.95.