How secure is encryption in Access 2007?
+2
A:
If you use the .ACCDB format and change the default encryption, it could be very secure. An article by Wayne Phillips has some good information on how to do that. According to the article, the default encryption is 40-bit RC4, which is not very secure and can be broken quickly.
You can apparently change the encryption to other options such as 256-bit AES, though. It is currently not considered feasible to be able to break a 256-bit symmetric key by brute force. So the biggest issue then most likely becomes a question of using it correctly. If someone chooses a 3 character password, then 256-bit AES still is not going to help very much. Nor would it help if the password is strong but is stored in a text file.
Mark Wilkins
2010-03-06 00:38:12
Very useful and informative post -- especially the cited URL. Thanks for this, and +1. And great avatar image!
David-W-Fenton
2010-03-06 17:28:11
@David: Thanks! My daughter drew the picture for me; I'll pass on the compliment to her.
Mark Wilkins
2010-03-07 13:22:13