pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (04/02/91)
A friend recently lost a passsword to a FileMaker database. Does
anyone know of any way of recovering from this situation (I think it's
a password protecting the structure of the database, which she wants
to change)? Any utilities, like the one that removes Excel passwords
(though badly)? Other hints?
Claris technical support was rude to her on the phone. "You forgot
it, too bad."
thanks .... -Adam
PS: Email is best, I don't always get through this group...
--
Adam C. Engst (best) ace@tidbits.tcnet.ithaca.ny.us
(also) ace@tidbits.uucp
(if all else fails) pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
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Editor of TidBITS, the weekly electronic Macintosh news journalLou@cup.portal.com (William Joseph Marriott) (04/08/91)
Hi Adam, You posted a message earlier about your friend's troubles obtaining help from Claris in recovering her FileMaker password. You posted a similar message on America Online and I replied to you there. I have also spoken with your friend, who assured me that while the representative who spoke with her did not offer any alternatives to recovering her password, or any explanations of our policy, she did not feel mistreated. Even if we have disappointing news, Claris tech support representatives try hard to be professional and helpful. I thought I would share the response I posted to America Online with those who read your post on Usenet: Here is the full text of our message to our tech support representatives on the handling password removal questions: -------------------------------------------------------------- "[Claris] can no longer remove the passwords from protected FileMaker files. No exceptions. Data in password-protected files is often of a sensitive or confidential nature. Disclosure of such information to unauthorized parties may be illegal, and could represent significant business or personal damage. Claris would be an accountable party in the case of such loss or damage. The FileMaker Pro manual, page 9-3, states, '...if you don't know a password, you can't open the file.' Page 15 of the FileMaker II network manual carries a similar message. A person who establishes a password has made the decision to secure the data in a file. That person, and not Claris, carries the responsibility of recording all passwords and ensuring that others who require access to the file know the necessary passwords." -------------------------------------------------------------- I know how controversial and difficult this policy is. Unfortunately, this is the only responsible choice Claris can make. Not just for our interests, but for the customer's as well. We worked hard to find a procedure that would allow us to remove passwords. One scheme that was suggested is that we use registration information to decide whether to unlock a file. But this has problems: any registered user could ask us to unlock a file. How would we know if they really should be able to access it? Unfortunately, we could never be sure. Consider the following example: Worker John Doe is fired. Before he leaves ABC Company, he obtains a copy of ABC's password-protected Client list. (He wants to open his own company performing similar services at cheaper rates.) He buys a copy of FileMaker Pro, registers it, and calls Claris to request that the password be removed from one of "his" files. He is a registered user, so we remove the password. Now John Doe has accessed ABC Company's confidential data, and Claris helped him. This is one of the few things which is not under the individual support representative's control, so no amount of persuasion on the part of your friend would have changed the outcome of his call. (Perhaps this is why the representative did not enter into a discussion about the password removal.) I hope this message helps you understand why we must have this (admittedly unpopular) policy, and again, I urge you or him to contact me if you have any additional questions. - Bill Marriott Claris Technical Support Bill_Marriott@claris.com lou@cup.portal.com