Re: [flasher] Hijacking Flash Content w/ Absolute Embed

[John Dowdell]

At 5:06 PM 2/10/1, Jim Duber wrote:

>But, recently I've been informed by a colleague in Japan that he was able

>to "hijack" my files by placing them into his own HTML page on his server

>with absolute links to my .swfs in his object and embed code. He wanted to

>know if there was a way to prevent this.



If this is "How can I prevent someone else from referring to my SWFs on my

server?" then the web isn't built to prevent that, sorry.


People run into this same problem with graphics or other assets... it's a

variant of deep-linking, where someone frames your content in ways you

don't desire.


There is a practical method you can use to deter such malefactors, though.

When you do your usual scan of your server logs you can see that someone is

linking to your served assets without your permission. You can then rename

your desired assets and relink to them, while replacing the old address

with some objectionable content in the same file format. The bad person

will then be showing unanticipated messages on their web site.


This isn't perfect, because: (a) it can only be done to punish a thief,

rather than prevent it; (b) they can relink to your new content; (c) it

requires a bit of time to restructure your files; and (d) the embarrassment

served by your replacement content does not directly benefit you. However,

by making it more expensive to make undesired requests to your server, you

can gradually wean them of this bad habit.


jd





John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US

Search technotes: http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/

Offlist email risks capture by the spam filters. I may not see your

email if it's not on the list. Private one-on-one email options are

available via Priority Access: http://www.macromedia.com/support/