When your system is rebooted, grub presents the boot option menu called splace screen. From here, you or anybody can easily login into a single user mode (sometimes it is called Rescue Mode) without the password which might result into breaching computer security. You can set a password for the GRUB boot loader. This prevents users from rescue or Singe-User  mode or changing settings at boot time.
For example, without grub password, any one can access the data or change the settings. After configuring grub password, GRUB forces you to enter a password before making any changes or entering into single user mode. You need to type p followed by password.
STEP 1: Generate GRUB password using MD5 algorithm,
# grub-md5-cryptOutput:
Password: <enter your password>
Retype password: <enter your password>
$1$0D1pm/$edQzRApldSKdvhe7aX4v30
STEP 2: Add MD5 Password to GRUB configuration file by,
Note: Under Debian GNU/Linux the Grub configuration file is located at /boot/grub/menu.lst. For Red Hat / Fedora / CentOS user, use /boot/grub/grub.conf file.
# vim /boot/grub/menu.lst
Add a password line as follows:
password –md5 $1$0D1pm/$edQzRApldSKdvhe7aX4v30
Save and close the file.
If you are using Dual Booting system, edit grub.conf file as mentioned below. Consider adding lock command to Windows XP right after title command:
title                   Windows NT/2000/XP
root                   (hd0,1)
chainloader     +1
Restart your system and make sure that GRUB password is working.

Related Articles: