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I realise that if a file (e.g. a PDF) is sitting on a server (apache Linux) and i share the link to it's location - you can effectively access/download it with out any extra security.<br />
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Is there anyway (perhaps with a php session) to prevent viewing or accessing a file unless the php session is active?
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I realise that if a file (e.g. a PDF) is sitting on a server (apache Linux) and i share the link to it's location - you can effectively access/download it with out any extra security.

Is there anyway (perhaps with a php session) to prevent viewing or accessing a file unless the php session is active?

Secure file access

PHP is a widely-used server-side scripting language especially suited for web development, powering tens of millions of sites from Facebook to personal WordPress blogs. PHP is often paired with the MySQL relational database, but includes support for most other mainstream databases. By utilizing different Server APIs, PHP can work on many different web servers as a server-side scripting language.

Security is the protection of information systems from theft or damage to the hardware, the software, and the information on them, as well as from disruption or misdirection of the services they provide. The main goal of security is protecting assets, and an asset is anything of value and worthy of protection.  Information Security is a discipline of protecting information assets from threats through safeguards to achieve the objectives of confidentiality, integrity, and availability or CIA for short. On the other hand, disclosure, alteration, and disruption (DAD) compromise the security objectives.

Security

The Apache HTTP Server is a secure, efficient and extensible server that provides HTTP services in sync with the current HTTP standards. Typically Apache is run on a Unix-like operating system, but it is available for a wide variety of operating systems, including Linux, Novell NetWare, Mac OS-X and Windows. Released under the Apache License, Apache is open-source software.