Does user-level security actually encrypt a mdb-file?

[sudakov]

Hi everybody,

Does user-level security actually encrypt a mdb-file?

In terms of format, is a mdb-file stored in encrypted format?

Is it possible to hack into the user-level secured mdb-file without a workgroup file (mdw-file), it was created for?

Thanks.
Your help is appreciated.

Sudakov

 

[JoeAtWork]

Access security is notoriously easy to hack. If security is a high concern to you, Access probably is not the right choice.

 

[sudakov]

Hi JoeAtWork,
thanks for your comment,
however I would like to know if a user-level secured mdb-file is actually encrypted.
If YES, what Encryption Type is used?

Thanks.
Sudakov

 

[JoeAtWork]

Well, I didn't know the answer to encryption, so I looked it up my copy of Access 2002 Enterprise Developer's Handbook. Apparently you can encrypt the database by going to Tools->Security->Encrypt/Decrypt Database (actually, I use Access2003, and there the commands are Encode/Decode).
It uses the RSA algorithm with a key based on the workgroup ID.

 

[sudakov]

Hi JoeAtWork,
thanks for your reply.

So, as far as I understand, the user-level security does NOT encrypt a mdb-file.

Any other opinions?

Sudakov.

 

[PHV]

Any other opinions?
Who cares ?

 

[JoeAtWork]

So, as far as I understand, the user-level security does NOT encrypt a mdb-file.

That's how I understand it.

Also, you should be aware that all Access databases have "user-level security", even if you didn't create a specific MDW file for it. If you open Access without specifying an MDW file, it will use the default System.mdw and log in as Admin.

So creating "user-level security" does not make any special changes to the MDB file, you are just pointing to a different MDW file than the default.

 

[sudakov]

Hi JoeAtWork,
thanks for your explanation.

Sudakov.