FileMaker® Pro Design & Scripting For Dummies®

Chapter 11. Batten Down the Hatches! Keeping Your Data Safe

In This Chapter

• Creating and managing user accounts

• Using privilege sets

• Using extended privileges

• Thinking about FileMaker security guidelines

When I was in junior high school, I had a big interest in chemistry. I carried a small, hard-bound notebook that I kept chemical formulas in. (Yeah, I was kind of geeky that way.) I treasured that little notebook. Then one day it just disappeared. I was devastated. I had spent so much time filling its pages with formulas and molecular structures, and then it was gone. I never did get it back, although I did discover that another student had taken it.

Unfortunately, we have to be very careful about what we do with sensitive information. Especially, with data being available via the Internet, the issue of security is a hot topic. I've seen various news reports about how someone gained access to thousands of customer credit card records, student records in school databases, and records of online banking transactions.

Fortunately, FileMaker Pro has an extensive set of security methods for helping you keep your information safe — not just in the manner of user IDs and passwords, but also through the use of what's called privilege sets and extended privileges. In this chapter, I cover what these are and how you can use them for securing your data.

Introducing FileMaker Security Methods

FileMaker Pro 8 provides three different methods of data security. These are:

• User accounts: A protected FileMaker ...