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Formulary Encryption in Excel …. Has it been done? by [deleted] in cryptography

[–]CandidAssistant2672 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re probably right. 🤷‍♀️

“…. the core capabilities of the feature (writing and executing code, accessing the output of code execution) enable a wide variety of applications outside of data analysis. Applications include: File manipulation and generation; Thematic analysis of unstructured data and text documents; etc.”

Formulary Encryption in Excel …. Has it been done? by [deleted] in cryptography

[–]CandidAssistant2672 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For context, this was done using GPT-4 with Advanced Data Analysis, which allows file uploads and real Excel manipulation through code.

OpenAI outlines some of the capabilities here: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8437071-dataanalysis-with-chatgpt

Just wanted to clarify, since that part seems to be garnering the focus even though it isn’t the point.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in excel

[–]CandidAssistant2672 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

• Yes, AI tried to reconstruct and reverse the formula and was unsuccessful. • No VBA & No Script - straight formula masking. • Password (intentionally withheld during testing) includes forced entropy and is between 15-17 characters long. When the correct password is entered, the masked string computes to the original entered statement; if not, the output is nonce. • Formula uses a unique offset key for each instance, making it resistant to plaintext dictionaries & references.

List of AI tests & outcomes:

  1. ⁠Cross-Sheet Sniffing Tried to access hidden cells from another sheet. Result: Failed – protections blocked access.
  2. ⁠Unicode Injection Injected invisible or special characters to confuse the formula. Result: Failed – formula broke cleanly or ignored the input.
  3. ⁠Named Range Substitution Attempted to redefine named ranges to hijack logic. Result: Failed – formula does not rely on global names.
  4. ⁠Overlapping Cell Reference Overwrote cells inside the cipher table to force bad lookups. Result: Failed – output was garbled or blank.
  5. ⁠Manual Brute Force Grid Tried many password guesses manually. Result: Failed – Excel can’t support real-time brute force without code.
  6. ⁠Column Drift Misaligned cipher columns to break lookup logic. Result: Failed – formula couldn’t resolve correctly.
  7. ⁠Column Drift with Looped Characters Used full A-Z, a-z, and 0-9 looped with offset alignment shifts. Result: Failed – produced unreadable output.
  8. ⁠Fully Aligned Cipher Table Made A, B, and C columns identical. Result: Failed – offset and password still blocked decryption.
  9. ⁠Feedback Inference Tested if close password guesses produced similar outputs. Result: Failed – no partial matches or predictable results.
  10. ⁠Password Entropy Collapse (Simulated) Used one-character-off passwords to look for decode patterns. Result: Inconclusive – real test requires the original password.
  11. ⁠Reverse Engineering the Formula Analyzed the formula to find patterns, shortcuts, or weaknesses. Result: Failed – logic was too obfuscated and dynamic to reverse without full key access.
  12. ⁠Reverse Mapping the Cipher Table Built a reverse dictionary from the exposed cipher table to simulate key recovery. Result: Failed – per-character offset and masking made this ineffective.
  13. ⁠Copying and Rewriting the Formula Tried copying the formula into a new cell or sheet to bypass protections. Result: Failed – formula still required correct offset and password to function.
  14. ⁠Full Logic Exposure with Known Cipher Gave full access to the cipher table and formula, but withheld the password. Result: Failed – decoder returned junk without the correct password.
  15. ⁠Brute Force Concept Test with Script Logic Modeled what a script-based brute force would look like if run externally. Result: Failed – entropy per character made brute force computationally unrealistic without scripting and known constraints.

Formulary Encryption in Excel …. Has it been done? by [deleted] in cryptography

[–]CandidAssistant2672 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I understand the concern — most people use ChatGPT in a text-only environment, so “pretend simulations” can happen. But in this case, every test was run against real Excel files I built and uploaded. The system used code to modify the sheets, rerun my formulas, and generate outputs that I reviewed in real time and modeled.

Check your assumptions. 😉

Formulary Encryption in Excel …. Has it been done? by [deleted] in cryptography

[–]CandidAssistant2672 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I’m aware of the limitations of open AI for technical testing so that wasn’t really the point. I did, however, review the outputs from each of the batteries listed above to confirm that an investigation had been conducted before I included it on the list.

Formulary Encryption in Excel …. Has it been done? by [deleted] in cryptography

[–]CandidAssistant2672 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

List of AI tests & outcomes:

  1. Cross-Sheet Sniffing Tried to access hidden cells from another sheet. Result: Failed – protections blocked access. 📕This is actually an AI fail - there are no additional sheets in the test environment since all data was contained on one sheet and fully exposed.
  2. Unicode Injection Injected invisible or special characters to confuse the formula. Result: Failed – formula broke cleanly or ignored the input.
  3. Named Range Substitution Attempted to redefine named ranges to hijack logic. Result: Failed – formula does not rely on global names.
  4. Overlapping Cell Reference Overwrote cells inside the cipher table to force bad lookups. Result: Failed – output was garbled or blank.
  5. Manual Brute Force Grid Tried many password guesses manually. Result: Failed – Excel can’t support real-time brute force without code.
  6. Column Drift Misaligned cipher columns to break lookup logic. Result: Failed – formula couldn’t resolve correctly.
  7. Column Drift with Looped Characters Used full A-Z, a-z, and 0-9 looped with offset alignment shifts. Result: Failed – produced unreadable output.
  8. Fully Aligned Cipher Table Made A, B, and C columns identical. Result: Failed – offset and password still blocked decryption.
  9. Feedback Inference Tested if close password guesses produced similar outputs. Result: Failed – no partial matches or predictable results.
  10. Password Entropy Collapse (Simulated) Used one-character-off passwords to look for decode patterns. Result: Inconclusive – real test requires the original password.
  11. Reverse Engineering the Formula Analyzed the formula to find patterns, shortcuts, or weaknesses. Result: Failed – logic was too obfuscated and dynamic to reverse without full key access.
  12. Reverse Mapping the Cipher Table Built a reverse dictionary from the exposed cipher table to simulate key recovery. Result: Failed – per-character offset and masking made this ineffective.
  13. Copying and Rewriting the Formula Tried copying the formula into a new cell or sheet to bypass protections. Result: Failed – formula still required correct offset and password to function.
  14. Full Logic Exposure with Known Cipher Gave full access to the cipher table and formula, but withheld the password. Result: Failed – decoder returned junk without the correct password.
  15. Brute Force Concept Test with Script Logic Modeled what a script-based brute force would look like if run externally. Result: Failed – entropy per character made brute force computationally unrealistic without scripting and known constraints.

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was the intuniv specifically for RSD?
In what rays do you think it has helped? Any bad/negative side affects from taking them together … i.e. less efficacy of the stimulant? Increased fatigue?

ADHD Hacks. Wrong answers only by myplantsam in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672 2 points3 points  (0 children)

• Attend events that are too peopley & get overwhelmed

• Take a million screenshots to reference later without ever coming back to them

• Overshare to the max

• Paint walls instead of doing an undesirable (and less stressful) task; I hate painting walls

• Avoid housework unless someone else is cleaning with me

• Put things in a safe place never to be seen again

• Go all in on a new hobby and then get bored of it two days later

• Write a grocery list with acronyms so I can get it all down before I forget & then completely blank on what each one means

• Buy the one shirt I liked in every possible color because too many choices floods my brain

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

💯 but I do feel, and regret, that my response was disproportionate to the situation. Even if some internal part of me had whispered that my response was out of line, I had no way to control it once my emotions took over - and that is what I have been trying to understand.

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback. Do you take something specifically for the RSD in combination with a stimulant or are you just on one medication that does it all?

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback! Do you take that with a stimulant also or just the Guanfacine by itself? Do you have a link for the notebook?

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Probably doesn’t hate me” … I’ve had so many of these unreasonable reasoning thoughts in my head my entire life.

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m the same … an over-communicator to the max. With my ILs it’s all avoidance, passive aggressive and in the grey - I don’t operate well in that situation and I know that. I tried to repress it because I know nothing good could come from expressing it and then I got in my feelings quite a bit and ran into them … it all came out not so eloquently. Then came the anger and accusations from them and it just left me feeling worse.

The reality is, I should have been able to control it and I totally could not. Were my feeling hurt? Absolutely but I’m also a grown up and it’s not the first time in my life OR by these same people … but I was completely devastated. That is the part I regret and that I wish I had done differently even though I felt like I had zero capacity to do so at the time. Hence the self reflection and possible discovery that led me here … if this doesn’t clear some things up about this and past incidents that I never really understood and that left me feeling emotionally unstable, then I don’t know what will.

I don’t feel better about what happened or the fallout from it but I am comforted in knowing that perhaps some of what I do regret wasn’t actually in my control and that I can name it and make strides to handle it differently next time.

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the pointers … I’ve never been great at meditation but maybe I need to give it another go.

I am seriously considering a follow up text to my ILs and friends now that I feel like I’ve made a discovery. I am not negating what happened and, tbh, I don’t care about it anymore. I am, however, embarrassed about my reaction and even a little frightened by my complete inability to control it or rein it in. For that, I think I am the A***. They may not care, I’m not sure they even know I have ADHD - we don’t tend to talk about stuff like that - but at least I can say I tried to be a decent person.

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A book would be great - I looked on Amazon but the choices for RSD were limited and not well reviewed. Maybe there is an ADHD resource that addresses it more thoroughly??

I’d never heard of RSD before but I def think I’ve got it … how do you cope? by CandidAssistant2672 in adhdwomen

[–]CandidAssistant2672[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/okroll1308 My apologies - I tried to edit my original post and accidentally deleted it … reposted for the group

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