New Millennium Communications is offering Password Administrator, a new FileMaker Pro plug-in that automates the process of changing passwords and password privileges simultaneously across multiple-file solutions. The plug-in can augment the FileMaker Pro Developer Tool's capabilities to prevent modification of database structure, thus providing additional security levels to an application, according to FSA Partner and FileMaker Pro security expert Steven H. Blackwell of Management Counseling Services.

"Some developers and IT personnel have argued that the management of FileMaker Pro passwords is too complex for solutions with a large number of files and a large number of passwords," Blackwell says. Although he doesn't necessarily agree with that conclusion, he says, "The situation is now dramatically altered with the introduction of Password Administrator."

With Password Administrator, if a developer has access to the master password, he can change one or more passwords, the privileges for one or more passwords, in one or more files, all at once. In addition, the limit of 50 open files doesn't apply to a developer's ability to change multiple passwords in multiple files simultaneously.

"End security is maintained by requiring the developer to know the master password before starting the process," Blackwell says.

Password Administrator costs US$199.95 for a single user, and is available for Mac OS X/9/8 and Windows platforms. A cross-platform developer edition is available for $399.95.

New Millennium says it works for all versions of FileMaker files, from FileMaker Pro 3 to FileMaker Pro 6.