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I recently learned a little about LibreOffice and OpenOffice. I am considering using LibreOffice on my laptop but am concerned about security. What I've read online (the terminology) is over my head. I'm not that tech savvy.

Can anyone recommend any security software?

Thanks in advance.

OldSchoolGirl
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    What is your concern? And why is it specifically LibreOffice you're concerned about? – SeeYouInDisneyland Mar 16 '19 at 19:34
  • My concern is I'm considering trying a software I have no expertise or tech knowledge which may require additional software I know nothing about. I selected LibreOffice because the reviews I've read recommended it. The software is either a free download or low cost which fits my budget. I'm a person that typically goes to Best Buy purchases a laptop, the geeksquad makes suggestions then adds on the software and I pay it and pick up the computer. I've always used MS Office with whatever firewall, antivirus they recommend. Looking outside of MS Office is something new to me. – OldSchoolGirl Mar 16 '19 at 20:33

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If you think of exploits using Office documents (LibreOffice got some problems there too, not only MS Office) then just taking some generic firewall will very likely not help you.

What you would need is a firewall which works at the application level and not just transport layer (i.e. IP address and port), is able to extract the documents from all relevant sources for analysis (i.e. web, mail, maybe FTP, maybe encrypted traffic) and will also be able to do a proper analysis of LibreOffice documents for problems specific to LibreOffice. At least none of the simpler firewalls like builtin into Windows or available in typical home routers will do this. Some enterprise-grade firewalls (called NGFW, UTM, Secure Gateway or similar) might claim to be able to this and probably can do most of it, but they are not foolproof either. A firewall should only be one line of defense and not the only line.

Steffen Ullrich
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  • Steffen, I'm aware of anti-virus and firewall software but have no clue about layers and levels.I appreciate your input. Thank you. – OldSchoolGirl Mar 16 '19 at 20:43
  • @OldSchoolGirl: typical simple desktop or router firewalls only care about IP addresses and ports and don't analyze the actual data. If you transfer an office document it could be embedded into the data into multiple ways, like one of several attachments in an email, as a file to download in the browser, maybe inside an archive with other documents ... Simple firewalls will not be able to extract the documents from the data stream for analysis and thus they are not suitable to protect you. – Steffen Ullrich Mar 16 '19 at 21:13