If you use a database password, all users must enter that password before they are allowed to open the database. Adding a database password is an easy way to help prevent unwanted users from opening your database; however, once a database is open, no other security measures are provided unless user-level security has been defined as well.
Microsoft Access stores the database password in an unencrypted form. If this will compromise the security of the password-protected database, you should not use a database password to protect the database. Instead, you should define user-level security to help control access to sensitive data in that database.
When user-level security has been defined for a workgroup, you can use a security account password. A security account password helps prevent unauthorized users from logging on using another user's name.
By default, Microsoft Access assigns a blank password to the default Admin user account and to any new user accounts that you create in your workgroup. As part of securing a database, it's important to add a password to:
- The Admin user account (to activate the Logon dialog box).
- The user account that owns the database and its tables, queries, forms, reports, and macros.
- Any user accounts that you add to the Admins group.
In addition, you might want to add passwords to the accounts you create for users, or instruct users to add their own passwords.
Users can create or change their own user account passwords; however, only an administrator account can clear a password if a user forgets the password.
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) passwords
In addition, you can also set a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) password. You use this password to protect VBA code in standard modules and class modules (such as code behind forms and reports). This password is entered when you first attempt to open any VBA code and prevents unauthorized users from editing, cutting, pasting, copying, exporting, and deleting the code.