Visual Basic® .NET Power Coding

What Is Code Access Security?

Code access security does not replace existing security; it is complementary. Code access security complements Windows security by describing the permissible behavior of code.

It is clear that Windows security describes what users and groups are permitted to do. If you are an administrator, any (unmanaged) code running while you are logged on can do anything that you can do as an administrator. The identified problem is that not all code originating from all locations can be equally trusted. If you write code on your disconnected, nonnetworked PC, you can trust it to do what you program it to do. The same is not true for code originating from someone else or, worse, somewhere else, like the Internet.

Code access ...