---
title: Web Folder Security
slug: technical/web-folder-security
docTags: 
createdAt: 2025-03-11T07:10:25.853Z
---

:::hint{type="info"}
Web Folder functionality was previously called Simple File Networking (SFN).
:::

This page outlines best practices for securely operating a Web Folder server for BrightSign players.

# Authentication

We recommend password-protecting the Web Folder directory to prevent a third party from retrieving presentation content. There are two types of HTTP authentication supported by the Web Folder protocol:

- [Digest Authentication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digest_access_authentication): Negotiates with the server using a hashed password. This is the recommended authentication method.
- [Basic Authentication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_access_authentication): Negotiates with the server using an un-hashed password. Because the password is vulnerable to interception, you should only use this method if Digest authentication cannot be implemented on the server.

To enable Digest authentication on a player, enter a **Username** and **Password** under **Web Folder Authentication** during the player Setup process. Digest authentication is used by default—if you wish to use Basic authentication instead, you must check the **Enable basic authentication** box.

:::hint{type="warning"}
If the player is already set up without authentication, you will need to perform player Setup again to enable authentication.
:::

# Directory Indexing

If you cannot password-protect the directory containing BrightSign content and presentation files (i.e. the **URL for web folder** specified during device setup), you should restrict indexing of this directory. This will prevent search engine crawlers from making an index of your presentation files publicly searchable and viewable.

- **Apache**: Include the "Options –Indexes" line in either the \<directory> directive or in the *.htaccess* file stored in the directory.
- **Windows Server (IIS)**: See [this page](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731109%28v=ws.10%29.aspx?f=255\&MSPPError=-2147217396) for instructions.
- **Nginx**: See [this page](http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_autoindex_module.html) for instructions.