Download Managers & Server Security

[Howard Schwartz]

I find more and more sites allow a browser to download a file by using
some kind of script, unstead of a simple URL. I suspect this is to
protect the filename and actual location of the file on the server from
hackers who
might try to insert a virus in files, and so on.

There are many kinds of script that can be used. A simple cgi, server
side script might, for instance, transfer the real file to a tmp
directory and
send it to the browser from there.

Oftne such sites instruct you to disable any downlaod managers or
accelerators.

I do not know what exactly tells a browser to download data to a file,
instead of trying to open it in a viewer windows. However, browsers
can execute client side java code, java scripts, and server side scripts
while, in general download managers can not.

In this context, does a download manager exist can can simply take over
a browser's download, say with a manual click, after the browser has
executed necessary scripts and has begun downloading a file?

I do not know of such a manager, and am currently using net-=transport
which has extended capabilities, but can not execute download-related
scripts.

 

[kenneth marken]

I find more and more sites allow a browser to download a file by using
some kind of script, unstead of a simple URL. I suspect this is to
protect the filename and actual location of the file on the server from
hackers who
might try to insert a virus in files, and so on.

There are many kinds of script that can be used. A simple cgi, server
side script might, for instance, transfer the real file to a tmp
directory and
send it to the browser from there.

Oftne such sites instruct you to disable any downlaod managers or
accelerators.

I do not know what exactly tells a browser to download data to a file,
instead of trying to open it in a viewer windows. However, browsers
can execute client side java code, java scripts, and server side scripts
while, in general download managers can not.

In this context, does a download manager exist can can simply take over
a browser's download, say with a manual click, after the browser has
executed necessary scripts and has begun downloading a file?

I do not know of such a manager, and am currently using net-=transport
which has extended capabilities, but can not execute download-related
scripts.

firefox with the flashgot extension allows nearly any download manager
to grab the file as the info passed to the download manager is the info
that the browser gets when the download starts.