By: Taryn N

In reply to Agnius.

Hi Agnius
Thank you for your comment. Point taken. However, these are topics tested in many Excel exams and there is often confusion since workbook level is actually protecting the worksheet structure, so it was in that context that the tutorial was made and made in order to address those issues.

This topic (worksheet level and workbook level protection) is covered in the detailed syllabus for the Microsoft Excel Expert Exam for 2013 that is exams (77-427 and 77-428), in the official book released by Microsoft Press – MOS 2013 Study Guide Microsoft Excel Expert by Mark Dodge.

So it is relevant to go over, for people who are studying for the MOS Excel Expert Exam and any other Excel exam. Also while I agree with you that encryption and VBA also play a role in more advanced level protection (I will do another tutorial on the more advanced level options :-)) .

My personal opinion is sometimes depending on one’s organization, one’s needs may not be that complex so its worthwhile knowing what Excel has available in terms of simpler options. It is one layer of protection and something is better than nothing at all, in my opinion. A workbook that has sensitive information that has no protection at all, is less secure than a workbook that has worksheet level and workbook level protection. Also from the psychological perspective there is now some form of inhibiting barrier, if one uses worksheet level or workbook level standard protection options.

However, you have opened up a very interesting debate with your points – is something in terms of protecting one’s data at a simpler level really better than nothing at all or should one address this issue from the VBA and encryption level only.

I will in the next tutorial, address some of the points you’ve raised and give you credit for the interesting questions/points you’ve posed in the debate section of the next tutorial on Encryption and VBA protection.