Making PDFs More Secure in LibreOffice Writer
LO Writer – PDF Security

© Lead Image © Fotoflash, Fotolia.com
Depending on your needs, LibreOffice Writer offers varying degrees of security for PDFs.
PDFs date from a less security-conscious era than our own. However, over the years, the PDF format has added security features. Today, if you need security, you have two choices: passwords and permissions for casual security of digital certificates or GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) keys for serious encryption. Both are available from tabs on LibreOffice's PDF Options window when exporting to PDF.
Passwords and Permissions
PDFs have their own system of passwords and permissions, which are available from File | Export As | Export As PDF… | PDF Options | Security (Figure 1). To set them up, begin by entering a password to open the exported file, and a second one to alter the permissions (in other words, how the files can be used). After the second password is entered, three kinds of permissions are available: Printing, Changes, and Contents. Together, options can be as strict as allowing a user only to view the file, as loose as allowing any user to alter the file at will, or something in-between.

[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.