Ids.xls May 2026

Once migrated or encrypted, delete the original ids.xls securely. Simple deletion is not enough—data can be recovered.

Windows (Cipher command):

cipher /w:C:\folder\containing\ids

Linux (shred command):

shred -u -z -n 7 ids.xls

It is crucial to note the .xls extension denotes the older binary format (BIFF8), not the modern XML-based .xlsx format. This distinction matters for three reasons: ids.xls

If you find a massive ids.xls file (approaching 65k rows), it is likely a legacy system holdover or a candidate for conversion.

In 2019, a mid-sized healthcare provider in the Midwest suffered a breach that exposed 50,000 patient records. The source? A file named ids.xls stored on a public-facing SharePoint site that lacked proper access controls.

What happened:

Outcome: The organization faced a $750,000 HIPAA fine and mandatory credit monitoring for all affected patients. The forensic report explicitly noted: "The use of an unencrypted spreadsheet named ids.xls in a publicly accessible location was a direct violation of data handling policy."

Given the dual nature of ids.xls—both useful and dangerous—organizations need a clear policy.

👉 Make ids.xls a puzzle

Connections flagged as REJ (rejected) or RSTO (reset) were 23x more likely to be malicious. Specifically, 94% of records with flag = RSTO in ids.xls corresponded to a denial-of-service tool.

Database administrators (DBAs) frequently use ids.xls to feed a list of IDs into a SQL query. For instance:

SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE Order_ID IN (SELECT * FROM [ids.xls])