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In this tutorial, you will learn how to setup Hotlink Protection effectively using the cPanel dashboard, available to users on one of Hosted.com’s cPanel Web Hosting plans.
Hotlinking is the practice of directly linking resources such as media on one website from another one; this poses various challenges for website owners.
This practice can jeopardize content integrity and result in security risks. It also uses server resources and bandwidth without authorization. For this reason, it’s imperative to employ Hotlink Protection to address these concerns.
Table of Contents
Setup Hotlink Protection in cPanel
This tutorial assumes you have cPanel and are logged in.
Now, let’s show you how to use Hotlink Protection, so users won’t be able to link directly to images on your website:
1. Click “Hotlink Protection” under the Security section. Hotlink Protection prevents other websites from directly linking to certain files (typically images) on your website.
Hotlink Protection will prevent other websites from directly linking to certain files (normally images) on your website. You will want to stop this happening if you have copyrighted images or wish to save on bandwidth usage. First, ensure your sites are listed here, so you can hotlink to your images.
2. Once you have clicked “Hotlinking Protection”, enter any URLs you want to have access to as well as all the file types you want to be protected.
3. If you want to allow people to enter a protected file’s URL manually, tick the box “Allow direct requests”.
4. Next, enter a URL you want to redirect to, for anyone who tries to hotlink to your files or images.
5. Lastly, click “Submit”.
You’ve successfully enabled Hotlink Protection on your website. To disable Hotlink Protection, click “Disable” at the top of the page.
You’ve reached the end of the tutorial. Now you know how to use Hotlink Protection to prevent hotlinking to your files!
Additional Information:
Benefits of Hotlink Protection
Hotlink Protection is an important security measure that can present numerous user benefits. These include:
Preservation of Bandwidth
When other websites hotlink to your photos, movies, or other media assets, they use your server’s bandwidth to show those resources on their page. This can greatly increase your server load and bandwidth consumption, which results in a slower-loading website and possibly higher hosting fees. You can save bandwidth for your visitors by putting hotlink security in place to stop illegitimate websites from exploiting it in this manner.
Content Protection
Hotlink protection guards against content on your website being utilized without authorization. If someone hotlinks to one of your photos or other media files, they display your content on their website without giving you credit or acknowledgment. This can result in problems like losing control over your content or copyright infringement. By limiting access and usage, hotlink protection allows you to ensure your material appears only on websites permitted to display it.
Server Security
Your server may be in danger of security breaches if you permit unapproved websites to hotlink to your data. Hackers and other malevolent users could use the hotlinks to access private data or run dangerous scripts on your server. By inserting hotlink prevention, you can reduce these security concerns and ensure only reliable websites may access your files.
