Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Shalom Carmel
Shalom CarmelFlag for Israel

asked on

Are pdf files traceable to their creator?

If they are created with Acrobat?
What about other pdf creation software?
Does the license number get embedded inside the file if it is not digitally signed?

I have on my hands a slanderous pdf file in a corporate environment (don't ask...), and the visible metadata is not enough to identify the offender.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of r-k
r-k

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of Shalom Carmel

ASKER

jhance,
Thank you for the grammar lesson.
The PDF file was traced to an anonymous email account on a server that was closed since the initial sending (unitedmailsystems.com). The application that created the file is Microsoft word via Adobe 5.0. This version of Adobe is used on multiple desktops in the organization. The author name in the PDF metadata is "xxx".

Well, I suppose that the lawyers will take your answers as a no.

Avatar of jhance
jhance

Can you determine from the logs on the server WHERE the anonymouse email originated?  It's hard to hide all your tracks.  Even an anonymous email connection had to come from somewhere.  The origin IP address is probably in the logs.  Perhaps that will help identify the origin.
This was an anonymous email account on a public korean email service that went belly up.

thanks anyway.