“It’s password protected,” he said.
What he meant was, “Nobody can get to it except me.”
Little did he know how wrong he was.
The password protection that comes with many programs (Excel and Office programs, QuickBooks, zip files, etc.) is pretty good at keeping you from ever getting your data again if you forget your password. But it isn’t going to keep someone else from getting your data if they really want it and they know how to do that kind of thing.
Using the password-protection feature to keep your data safe with most common programs is very much like locking your door and then leaving the key under the doormat while you are on vacation.
Also, don’t rely on the claim that the data are encrypted. The same thing applies. That encryption isn’t usually very good. There are strong encryption solutions out there. However, keeping data safe with them requires following all the rules and most people don’t know what all the rules are or how to follow them.
If you need an encryption solution, become informed from knowledgeable sources and learn how to implement it properly.
Don’t rely on the password-protection feature in your programs to keep your data safe.