RE: Hacking a PDF?

Subject: RE: Hacking a PDF?
From: "Michele Marques" <marquesm -at- autros -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 09:59:51 -0500

Bayne, Sonia E asks if it's possible to "hack" a PDF, namely:
> (Quickly tying back to a TW-ish topic): If the pdf's Document
> Info/Security
> is set so that Change Doc, Select Text or Graphics, and Add or
> Change Notes
> are all set to "Not Allowed" could a creative hacker sneak by that
> protection? If you have Acrobat as opposed to just AcroReader, can you
> easily get around these protections?

YES. It is even easier than Geoff mentioned; you don't need a password
cracking program.

If you have Acrobat (not just the reader) or Distiller and the document is
NOT protected against printing, then you can print to a postscript file,
distill the postscript, and have an unprotected PDF.

I don't know if using a watermark would help (i.e., maybe it will all become
a graphic when they re-PDF it, so that they can't select text).

--------------------------------------------
Michele Marques
Technical Writer,
Autros Healthcare Solutions
marquesm -at- autros -dot- com



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