protecting .xml database

Question

i have this .xml file read and display at runtime by vb.net2003. the .xml file is the database which contain various data and its not for adding more data or edited by user so i need to protect the file so that my code can read and display those data. can anyone know how to protect the file.  If encrypted can i decrypt it inside my code so as to read by the program as desire.
I would be very grateful if anyone could help me on this.
zela