External websites can use the < IMG /> tag to display images from your website elsewhere on the Internet. As a result, other websites will steal your bandwidth.
To secure your images, log into your cPanel account.
Scroll to the Security section, and click on the HotLink Protection Icon.
If “Hotlink protection is currently disabled” is displayed, click on the Enable button. NB. Configure your HotLink Protection before Enabling.
How to Configure Hotlink Protection?
Under the “URL to allow access:” section,
- You can allow access to external websites or your own website/s. For example, if you have a subdomain like demo.example.com, you can add the URL of that website to your allowed websites list.
- Add the file extensions you want to block from Direct Access.
- Tick this block to allow Direct Requests. We don’t recommend allowing direct requests. Open a ticket for assistance on this.
After clicking the Enable button you will receive confirmation that it is enabled.
