Access™ 2007 VBA Programmer's Reference

18.3. Summary

In most business environments, it is good practice—even essential—to institute some level of security for an Access database application. There are several factors that help determine what is appropriate for the situation, but typically the result is a combination of methods that will provide the most cost-effective solution for the business needs. Simply implementing Access security alone is not always sufficient. Environmental factors play a large part in the security puzzle. Adding firewalls, network security, and strong business rules must complement the security features that Access can provide.

This chapter reviewed the three major security features available in the ACCDB file format. Shared-level security password protects and encrypts the database so that the raw data contained in the file is protected from intruders. Locking the VBA project enables you to distribute the code with the database while not allowing unauthorized users to view or make changes to it. Compiling the database to an ACCDE file enables you to remove all source code from the database and prevent any modification to the code in the database solution. Used separately or in combination, these features enable you to provide a robust security model for ACCDB database solutions.

This chapter also discussed the security features available for MDB file format databases. MDB supports applying a password to the database to implement shared-level security. Creating an MDE database file compiles ...