Are Password Retrieval Programs all Bad?

One fundamental theme of this chapter is that the prevalence of password retrieval software reduces the security of your Access application. Another important issue with this style of software is that it allows users of the software to attempt to break your Access security provisions anonymously.

A far more likely scenario is that you or your users will forget or change a password and will start to view these programs in a much better light. My discussions with staff at password retrieval companies leads me to form a view that these organizations are making a lot more money from legitimate companies that need to unlock files than they would ever hope to make from people who want to crack passwords for illegitimate gains. Now, before you get totally excited that these programs will be the end of all your password woes, remember that they will not be able to rebuild a lost workgroup file for you.

Now I will explain why the biggest security issue in Access is actually a built-in menu command that allows you to short-circuit many of the simple and popular protection measures.