Adobe LiveCycle software supports password-based encryption using 40-bit or 128-bit RC4 encryption. Or, users can take advantage of certificate-based (PKI) encryption that uses up to 2,048-bit RSA encryption.
How are documents encrypted and decrypted?
Using APIs on the server, documents may be encrypted by either of the following methods:
Shared password protection: All recipients use a single password to open the document. Authors can optionally add a password that restricts the modification of permissions assigned to the rights of the document.
User-targeted encryption: Public key infrastructure (PKI) is used to assign unique access rights to each recipient, eliminating the need to create and distribute passwords to recipients.
When the recipient opens the file, either a password must be entered before the file is decrypted, or the file is decrypted automatically using the recipients private key. There are four encryption/decryption paths: server to server, server to desktop, desktop to server, and desktop to desktop.