Security is a primary concern in today's world. Whether we are concerned about personal safety or data protection, measures are available to ensure our safety. In the business world, information is a powerful tool and must be protected to ensure that valuable data is not lost or used inappropriately. Microsoft Access has been designed with this need in mind as it allows you to control who is able to view a database and what activities they are able to perform. This is most important in a multi-user environment. Let us consider some of the measures that are available to control the level of access to a particular database.

Encoding/Decoding
A database is most often encoded when being stored on a disc or transmitted electronically. To be able to access the database again, it must be decoded. These procedures can be carried out by the owner of the Microsoft Access database or a member of the Admin group. This is considered to be the simplest level of protection.

Setting of a password
It is possible to set up Microsoft Access so that a password is required to open a particular database. If the user enters the correct password, they are then able to access all data contained within the database. This simple level of security is most appropriate in an environment where only a single computer is present or the database is to be used by a small number of users.

Implementing User-Level Security
As the name implies, user-level security enables a database administrator to specify the level of access granted to individual users or groups. Using the User-Level Security Wizard, each individual is assigned a personal identification code and a password which must be entered when first accessing the database. The term "permission" is applied to those activities which a user has been enabled to perform such as entering and editing data or simply viewing data.

This is a brief overview of just three of the features available for protecting an Access database. If you have not implemented any security measures to date, it may be worth considering especially if you work in a multi-user environment. Your goal may be simply to prevent unwanted changes being made to your database or perhaps you wish to prohibit copying of your database for privacy reasons. Microsoft Access training courses usually cover this type of material at an advanced level. Once you have the necessary skills, you can implement security measures on your work or home systems and continue to ensure that they are updated regularly.