Protect Your Downloadable Files Using HTTP Handlers
This article attacks a problem for which I have heard many solutions: How can you offer file downloads on the Internet and protect them from unauthorized downloading?
by Miguel A. Castro
May 4, 2007
o you finally have a product to sell, and a site to sell it on. But wait; how do you prevent unauthorized users from downloading your products? Forms Authentication provides only part of the solution. In this article, I'll show you how to prevent specific users from accessing specific files on your site; even by browsing directly to them.
There are many answers to this problem, but some carry their own problems. In this article, I'll review some of the techniques commonly used by software vendors, and then show you my solution. I should tell you that my solution is not a Miguel Castro original; it is, in fact, used by many ASP.NET sites—don't ask me how the Java guys do it.
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o you finally have a product to sell, and a site to sell it on. But wait; how do you prevent unauthorized users from downloading your products? Forms Authentication provides only part of the solution. In this article, I'll show you how to prevent specific users from accessing specific files on your site; even by browsing directly to them.
