How to Protect video downloads online from users?

How can I protect videos on my website from downloading?

The most effective way to protect your videos is by setting up a reverse proxy and setting video restriction mode for the videos. With this we can protect video files and set custom video restrictions for all formats (such as, .mp4, .mov, .wmv, .avi, .avchd, .flv, .f4v, .swf, .mkv, .webm, and many more).

In this blog, we will see how we can protect video downloads online from unauthorized user access by using a reverse proxy for video restriction.

Protect videos from downloading using a reverse proxy?

With the help of a reverse proxy, any unauthorized user cannot watch the protected videos, which is one of the benefits of restricted mode(video restriction). Here’s how a reverse proxy works in protecting your video files –

1. User visits the site via the reverse proxy.

2. User clicks on a video to either download it or watch it.

3. User will be redirected to a Login page where they’ll be prompted to enter their credentials.

4. These credentials will be sent back to the reverse proxy and then the website will display one of the 3 outcomes:

• A custom error message set by the admin on a new page.

• An error 403 “Forbidden Page” will be displayed.

• If the user is authorized, the video can be viewed and/or downloaded.

Based on user roles, role-based access control (or RBAC) can be set to protect videos, so that the user can just watch a video or download it as well. This is known as video restriction.

Your videos with Reverse Proxy

With a reverse proxy, you can easily set up RBAC (or role-based access control), set IP restrictions based on time and geographical location, and many more features to protect your videos from downloading. No unauthorized user will be able to view or access the folders where your videos are stored and guarantee’s security.

Your videos without Reverse Proxy

Without a reverse proxy, your videos can be accessed from any unauthorized user and hence they can easily download and share it further ahead. Without a reverse proxy, your videos won’t have any security against such threats and gaping holes in security and can be easily downloaded.

In Summary

With a reverse proxy, we have solved the problem and can now protect videos from downloading online from unauthorized users by setting restricted mode (video restriction). Along with video restriction, we can even set custom role-based access control (or rbac) on our other files with the help of a reverse proxy so that we can allow select users to download videos and prevent data leaks.

So what are you waiting for? Drop us a query at info@xecurify.com and we will get right back to you to address all your needs.

Reference links

1. 1. Gmail Group Based Access Control With Google Workspace CASB.
2. 2. MS-365 CASB for Microsoft Teams Security.