SRS Releases Document Detective 2.0

SRS Technologies, an IT vendor focused largely on government intelligence agencies, this week released a new version of document-cleaning software designed to remove sensitive or potentially embarrassing content hidden in electronic documents.

Version 2.0 of Document Detective can identify and remove more than 100 types of hidden data and meta data, including embedded object linking, comments and tracked changes in Microsoft's PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents, SRS said. The software is also designed to prevent inadvertent data disclosure when classified government documents are downgraded, SRS said.

The release of Document Detective 2.0 follows a series of accidental releases of proprietary information by government agencies, including the release in December of information about the controversial author of a speech by President George Bush. In that case, the author's name was supposedly hidden in a PDF (Portable Document Format) file. The Department of Defense and the United Nations have also been victims of not-so-hidden data.

Document Detective allows users to see the hidden data in documents and delete it, said Ron Hackett, program manager of the SRS Technologies System Solutions Division. "What we're seeing is a huge number of tracked changes in electronic documents," he said.

Biggest Threats

While hackers or malicious insiders grab headlines in security leaks, they sometimes aren't an organization's main security risk, he added. "I don't believe either one of those are our biggest threat," Hackett said. "Our biggest threat is the ordinary user. The user has tremendous access to information."

In addition to tracked changes in Word documents, a major problem can be hidden data in PowerPoint slides, he said. Many users don't start with a new PowerPoint document, instead copying an old format from a past slide show. Most of the time, those old slides remain in the background and can still be accessed, Hackett said.

The new version of Document Detective includes customizable user reviews, allowing users to decide whether to eliminate or keep hidden data. It has a "flatten" tool to leave only what-you-see-is-what-you-get data in the document, said SRS, based in Newport Beach, California. The software works with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, as well as PDF, HTML, and XML documents.

The software starts at $300 for a single-user license.