By default, most Web Servers allow visitors to your website to see the contents of a directory if you have not defined a default index file. This can be index.htm or index.html or index.php.
Allowing directory listing exposes your website information to malicious visitors hence giving them a clue of your website structure. This is one of the worst security risks that you can ever take. In this guide, I am going to show you a step by step procedure on how to disable directory listing in your Cpanel as a security measure for your website.
Prerequisite.
1. A domain name e.g truehost.co.ke
2. A Hosting package with a Cpanel.
3. The Cpanel credentials I.e Username and Password.
Disabling Directory Listing
There are several ways that you can go about turning off directory indexing from the Cpanel.
Method 1
Step 1: Log in to your Cpanel.
Step 2: Scroll to the “Advanced” section and click on “Indexes”
Step 3: On the folder for which you want to disable directory listing, click on “edit”
Step 4: On the next page select “No Indexing” and click “Save”
That is all for method 1.
Method 2
Step 1: Log in to your Cpanel.Step 2: Click on “File Manager” under the “Files” Section.
Step 3: Select and right-click on the folder that you wish to disable directory listing.
Step 4: Click on “Change Permissions”
Step 5: Assign the permission to be “771” by simply ticking the necessary boxes as shown below in blue. This prevents the folder to be accessible by visitors to a website.
Step 6: Click on “Change Permission” to save the changes.
Method 3
Step 1: Log in to your Cpanel.
Step 2: Click on “File Manager” under the “Files” Section.
Step 3: Select and right-click on the folder that you wish to disable directory listing.
Step 4: Click on “Manage Indices”
Step 5: Click on “No Indexing”
Step 6: Click on “Save”
That is all you ought to know in regards to disabling directory listing in your Cpanel. Once you do that, anyone who tries to visit a directory with no default page will automatically get a forbidden error message. This is an awesome security measure to protect your important information from being accessible to be public.