Minimum Level of Security for the Back End

[Robert T]

We have a database that tracks instructors, courses, class schedules and
attendance. It started out as one .mdb and then I split it into a front and
back end. The back end resides on the Network server while the team members
[5] access the front end via their local “C†drive. Everyone uses a shared
password on the front end.

Everything works well, but obviously anyone can open the back end and look
at or modify data without a password. I’m sure you Access veterans can
recommend a way to place a minimum level of security on the back end. Can we
simply make the password for the back end the same as the front end?

I know these are elementary questions for Access veterans but I’m not one of
them, so I would appreciate your help and advice. Let me repeat, there is no
critical data such as account numbers of personal information that requires a
higher level of security. We just want to keep unauthorized people out of the
database.

Thanks,
Robert

 

[Joan Wild]

We have a database that tracks instructors, courses, class schedules and
attendance. It started out as one .mdb and then I split it into a front and
back end. The back end resides on the Network server while the team members
[5] access the front end via their local “C†drive. Everyone uses a shared
password on the front end.

Everything works well, but obviously anyone can open the back end and look
at or modify data without a password. I’m sure you Access veterans can
recommend a way to place a minimum level of security on the back end. Can we
simply make the password for the back end the same as the front end?

You could. You could also make the password on the backend different than the frontend - the users wouldn't even need to know the backend password. If you set a password on the backend, you'll need to open the frontend and delete the linked tables. Then relink and provide the password to the backend (it's stored in the table links).

As well as (or instead of) setting a password on the backend, you could put an autoexec macro in the backend with a Msgbox Action "Cannot use this file directly. Open the frontend" followed by a Quit Action; and then disable the shiftkey bypass in the backend. (For you own needs to get into the backend, you can re-enable the shiftkey bypass from another database) - or use Albert's utility to set/unset it - look for By Pass ShiftKey Code at

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/msaccess/msaccess.html

You could also put the backend in a hidden share on the server so that the idle curious aren't likely to find it
\\server\share$ rather than \\server\share

Again, whatever changes you make to the backend, you'll need to relink the tables in the frontend and then redistribute it to your users.

 

[Robert T]

Hello Joan:

First, thanks for the prompt response.

Second, I like your idea below of creating a different password for the back
end. And if I understand you correctly, we can still use the same shared
password on the front end that we us now, but only after I delete and
reestablish the link to the back end, using the back end password to rebuild
the links.

Thanks,
Robert

:
You could. You could also make the password on the backend different than
the frontend - the users wouldn't even need to know the backend password. If
you set a password on the backend, you'll need to open the frontend and
delete the linked tables. Then relink and provide the password to the
backend (it's stored in the table links).

 

[Joan Wild]

Yes you have it right.