Password protecting PDF files

[Anon]

My company's new Web site will have some PDF files that we want people to view only AFTER they have spoken to one of our representatives and obtained a password. I've written a simple PHP script that will accept a password and then redirect the user to the desired file. However, this doesn't prevent a user from simply typing the file's URL into his browser's address bar and loading the file. How can I ensure that ONLY those users who have entered the correct password can view these files?

[igebert]

You want to prevent the delivery of a file -- that is in sphere of the webserver. I'd suggest you use a .htaccess file protecting a directory, that would be the most simple and safe solution (though it might render your PHP script obsolete).

If you want to have your own login dialogue I can just think of the dirty solution of file copy / delete operations...