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Protecting databases
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 453
• Protect the physical security of the computers, hard drives, and backup storage media
where the database files reside.
Notes
• Shared accounts are a security risk. For better security, use individual accounts instead of
shared accounts. If you intend to use shared accounts anyway, make sure you limit the
access capabilities of the privilege sets that shared accounts use. Change the password
occasionally, particularly when certain users no longer require access.
• If you have FileMaker Pro Advanced, you can encrypt database files to protect them while
they are being stored on disk. See Encrypting database files (FileMaker Pro Advanced).
Password-protecting a file
If you have a non-shared database file on your computer and you want to prevent others from
opening it, you can password-protect the file.
After password-protecting a file, you will be prompted to enter an account name and password every
time you open the file. Anyone who does not know this account information will not be able to open
the file.
To password-protect a database file:
1. Make the following changes to the accounts in the file:
• Edit the Admin account so that it has a different account name, a password, and uses
the Full Access
privilege set. (If the file does not contain an Admin account, create a
new account with a password and assign the Full Access privilege set to it.)
• Make sure the Guest account is inactive.
• Delete any other accounts in the file or make them inactive.
See Editing existing accounts and Duplicating and deleting accounts.
2. If necessary, edit the Full Access privilege set to allow yourself any extended privileges that
you may want for yourself.
For instructions on how to edit the Full Access privilege set, see Editing extended privileges for
a privilege set. If you don’t need any extended privileges, leave them disabled.
Warning Don’t forget the account name and password that is assigned to the Full Access privilege
set. If necessary, write it down and store it in a secure place. If you lose or forget this account name
and password, you may not be able to access or change the file.
Note To remove password protection from a file, remove passwords from all accounts. Then, in the
File Options dialog box, make sure Log in using is selected, with Account Name and Password
set to Admin and a blank password. See
Setting file options.
Creating and managing accounts
Accounts specify account names and (usually) passwords for a file. When a user opens a file that
contains accounts, a dialog box usually prompts the user to enter account information. When a user
opens a file with a correct account name and password, the
privilege set assigned to that account
determines what the user can do in that file. See About accounts, privilege sets, and extended
privileges.