Protecting the database

[Guest]

To help protect my database I passworded the database. On the user's desktop
is an icon where the target is an mde file with the password whos only
function is to open the passworded database.

Question: I would like more security that would not allow the users access
to the database through Windows Explorer or Excel ..etc. I was thinking,
lets say there is a directory where I have the IT dept set me up as the only
user in that directory. Is there a way to pass a code "in the mde file" that
would allow access and use to the database for other users but if the user
went through windows explorer and tried to access that directory it would
tell them "Restricted Directory. Access not allowed."

Thank you for your help.

Steven

 

[Guest]

You need to study up on Acces User Group Security. It is the only reliable
way to secure an application.

A user has to have full permissions to the folders where the mdb/e files are
located. Notice the plural. We will get to that. If a user cannot write to
the folder and opens an mdb/e, it cannot create an ldb file; therefore, they
will have it open in Exclusive mode and no other user can open it. It
essentially becomes single user.

As to proctecting from other ways to gain access to your data, the security
described above is the best way to deal with that.

Having an mdb that only allows access to the "real" mdb makes me think you
don't have your app configured correctly. The correct configuration for a
multi user Access app is first to split the database. This creates 2 mdb
files. After the split, you will have one that is the original name. It
will contain all your forms, reports, macros, modules, and queries. The
other will be all your tables and end with _be. The be stands for back end.
The other is commonly referred to as fe or front end.

Each user should have his/her own copy of the fe on their local computer.
The be should be on a shared drive in a folder where all the users have full
permissions. You need to be aware of Linking. That is telling the fe where
the be is so it can connect to the data.

When you originally create the split, the fe will be linked to the be based
on where you tell the wizard to put the be. The problem is it uses standard
drive letter mapping. And, as you are aware, different users have different
drive letters mapped to the same network folder. Access can't resolve this
on its own, so you need to use UNC mapping. That is
\\ServerName\FolderName\SubFolder
That will solve the probelm.

Security is no simple task. You have to be very careful or you can lock
yourself and everyone else out of a database and have to go back to backups
to correct the problem. Before you attempt it, do some studying on security.

Good Luck.