vBa Gallery and file security

[imported_DougM]

I've used vBa Gallery in other sites but am now considering using it to allow downloading of files only by a paid subscription usergroup. These will be files which are typically targeted by hackers.

I'm concerned about security and would like to know if vBa gallery is a good platform for this and if my main concern should be with vBa or vBulletin.

Thanks.

[mholtum]

as long as you allow even one person access to download your files there will be a security leak. Just my opinion.

[ConqSoft]

For now, Gallery requires that the files be stored under the web root. That means that if someone knows the direct link to the file, they can download/access it. That may change in the future, I dunno.

So, if you have a need for secure files, I would use vBulletin's attachments, since those attachments can be stored outside the web root (or in the database), where the user MUST be authenticated before they can get to the file.

[Freeway]

Originally Posted by ConqSoft

For now, Gallery requires that the files be stored under the web root. That means that if someone knows the direct link to the file, they can download/access it. That may change in the future, I dunno.

That would be great if it did

[ConqSoft]

For displaying a lot of images at a time, like in a Gallery, I dunno how slow it would be to have them ALL pushed to the user through PHP though... Might be a bit of a performance hit.

[Freeway]

Originally Posted by ConqSoft

For displaying a lot of images at a time, like in a Gallery, I dunno how slow it would be to have them ALL pushed to the user through PHP though... Might be a bit of a performance hit.

Maybe he could come up with a way to hide the url or encode it or something....

[imported_DougM]

I didn't think about people being able to access the files straight from the /files directory. This would be a problem as members would certainly just post links all over the place for their pals.

I am going to put some more thought into this though. I like the very user-friendly gallery interface for displaying and organizing files more than attachments.

[0ptima]

VB.ORG probably has something like this.