Hotlink protection: How-To prevent people from stealing your files

Create an .htaccess file in your public_html directory with the following code:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?domain.com.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .(gif|jpg)$ - [F]

Where domain.com is your domain.

Similarly, you can set this up to allow only a list of multiple domains:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?domain1.com.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?domain2.com.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .(gif|jpg)$ - [F]

Where the logic reads

• If the referer is not blank
• and is not domain1.com
• and is not domain2.com
• and is accessing a gif or jpg
• Then [F]orbid the request.
Where you can add more domains in a similar manner, as needed.