MS Access 2003 Security: How secure is it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gary Dikkema
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Gary Dikkema

I have an application created in Access 2003 and I have used the wizard to
lock it down, plus I have encoded the file.

Reading the MS Help files it (MS) says my application should be secure...

Is it really secure from people being able to break into the application and
hijack the contents?

Anyone?

Second part, is there a place one can go to test Access security?

TIA.

Gary D
 
Gary Dikkema said:
I have an application created in Access 2003 and I have used the wizard to
lock it down, plus I have encoded the file.

Reading the MS Help files it (MS) says my application should be secure...

Is it really secure from people being able to break into the application and
hijack the contents?

Anyone?

Second part, is there a place one can go to test Access security?
Click to expand...

Access security is roughly equivalent to the lock on your luggage. It will
keep out people who are nosy, but mostly honest. It will not keep out
anyone who is determined and dishonest.
 
That's what I thought...

So how do I improve upon the MS security? Or is that possible?

Is DRM an option?


Gary D
 
I don't think _any_ file-based application can be made secure. As long as
your users have physical access to the file itself, there's always going to
be a way into it.

For better security, you'll need to go the server route, like SQL Server or
Oracle.
 
Seems I went round and round on this question.

Didn't mean to slight anyone's opinion...

Just in a rush today... spent 2 hours on the AllowBypassKey and never did
get it to work...

I don't understand why not... I lifted the code example and then used a
macro to invoke it... it ran; I tried it was a non Admin user and yet I had
access to the code... no pun intended.

If anyone can enlighten me I'd appreciate it.

This is Access 2003 if that makes any diff.

TIA.

Gary D
 
AllowBypassKey is only analyzed when the database is being opened. So, you
set it...then get out of your database...then confirm that you do not have
access to code.
 
I used the posted Michka routine... this I invoked from a macro. Then I
exited the application and Access. I then started it up from the security
shortcut on the desktop... used a non-Admin user, entered the password and
held the shift-key and watched the code appear.

Sorry, that's what I meant...

And that's not what I expected to see happen...

Obviously I am doing something wrong...

Gary D
 
Hmmm. (a) It doesn't say whether this is the database password or the
user-level passwords. I suspect it is the former. The database password is
very weak & has been cracked for years. (b) They use the term "brute force",
& discuss where to obtain "dictionaries". This does not suggest that the
authors have much knowledge of how to break Access passwords!

I'm not saying that this produce does not work, or that there are not others
that do. Just saying that you have to be careful to understand what they are
actually claiming...

TC
 
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