Encrypt AccesS File?

[milest]

How easy is it for someone to use a non ACCESS (but easily available)
programme to alter numerical values in an ACCESS database table and save the
result in a way which continues to allow the db to be opened by ACCESS - I
want to prevent this (have already prevented shift-key access). Not sure
what programmes could do this but thought this is what the ACCESS encryption
facility is meant to prevent.

I encrypted an ACCESS database and opened it with Wordpad/Excel but found
that the numerical values did not seem to be encrypted and EXCEL could still
read the tables!

Other than a design change, if I want to stop users being able to alter
table values in this way, are there better ways than encrypting the mde file;
what other (unwanted!) deployment implications might encryption create? The
db was to be deployed as an unencrypted ACCESS 2002/2003 file format mde file.

 

[Dirk Goldgar]

How easy is it for someone to use a non ACCESS (but easily available)
programme to alter numerical values in an ACCESS database table and
save the result in a way which continues to allow the db to be opened
by ACCESS - I want to prevent this (have already prevented shift-key
access). Not sure what programmes could do this but thought this is
what the ACCESS encryption facility is meant to prevent.

I encrypted an ACCESS database and opened it with Wordpad/Excel but
found that the numerical values did not seem to be encrypted and
EXCEL could still read the tables!

Other than a design change, if I want to stop users being able to
alter
table values in this way, are there better ways than encrypting the
mde file; what other (unwanted!) deployment implications might
encryption create? The db was to be deployed as an unencrypted
ACCESS 2002/2003 file format mde file.

Unless you secure your database with user-level security, you will not
be able to keep people from opening the database, whether they do it
with Access or by way of a program (like Excel) that uses the Jet
database engine to manipulate the database directly without invoking
Access itself. And the help file says: "Encrypting an unsecured
database has no effect because anybody can open the database and gain
full access to all objects in the database."

You're going to need to implement user-level security if you want to
keep unauthorized people from reading -- and, potentially, modifying --
data values stored in the database. User-level security is tricky to
get right, though the User-Level Security Wizard in the most recent
versions of Access does a good job. You ought to read and study the
Security FAQ
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;207793) before
attempting to secure your database -- and make sure you have a copy of
the un-secured database tucked away, in case you inadvertently lock
yourself out.