The simplest, yet least sophisticated, method of implementing security is to assign a password to the overall database. This means that every person who wants to gain access to the database must enter the same password. After a user gains access to the database, all the database's objects are available to that user. We refer to this type of security as
Share-level security is the simplest and quickest security to set up. With almost no effort, you can secure the database and its objects. This method of security is quite adequate for a small business in which the administrators of the database want to ensure that no unauthorized people can access the data, but that each authorized person has full access to all its objects.
To assign a database password, follow these steps:
Open the database to which you want to assign a password by selecting Open Exclusive from the Open drop-down of the Open dialog box.
Choose Tools, Security, Set Database Password. The Set Database Password dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 27.1.
Type and verify the password and click OK. The password is case sensitive.
After you assign a password to a database, Access prompts users for a password each time they open the database. The Password Required dialog box appears each time the users open the database, as Figure 27.2 shows.
After users enter a valid password, they gain access to the database and all its objects. In fact, users even can remove the password by choosing Tools, Security, Unset Database Password. The Unset Database Password dialog box only requires that users know the original password (see Figure 27.3).
Although these passwords are extremely easy to understand and implement, they also are extremely unsophisticated. As you can see, users either have or do not have access to the database, and it is very easy for any user who has access to the database to modify or unset its password.Step 11: Assigning Rights to Users and Groups" section of this chapter.