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Techniques to Protect Video Source URLs in html pages

There are ways to obfuscate or protect the source of video files, but it's important to understand that complete security on the client side is difficult to achieve, as determined attackers can often find ways to uncover the source. However, you can employ several techniques to make it more challenging for the general public to access the video source URL directly.

Techniques to Protect Video Source URLs

Token-Based Authentication:
- Use token-based authentication to generate temporary access tokens for each video request. This way, the video URL is only valid for a short period and cannot be reused.
Signed URLs:
- Generate signed URLs that are valid only for a short period or a specific IP address. This can be done using cloud services like AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage.
Backend Proxy:
- Use a backend server to proxy the video request. The frontend requests the video from your server, which then fetches the video from the original source and streams it to the client.
Encryption:
- Encrypt the video files and decrypt them on the client side. This requires additional processing and key management but adds a layer of security.
Content Delivery Network (CDN):
- Use a CDN that supports secure video delivery. CDNs can provide features like signed URLs, token-based access, and geo-restrictions.

Example Using a Backend Proxy

Here’s an example of how to set up a backend proxy in Node.js to serve video content:

Server-Side Code (Node.js with Express)

const express = require('express');
const request = require('request');
const app = express();
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;

app.get('/video', (req, res) => {
    const videoUrl = 'https://example.com/video-source.mp4';
    
    // Stream the video content from the original source to the client
    request(videoUrl).pipe(res);
});

app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`Server is running on port ${PORT}`);
});

Client-Side Code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Video Playback with Proxy</title>
</head>
<body>
    <video id="videoPlayer" width="100%" height="100%" controls></video>
    <script>
        // Fetch the video data from the proxy endpoint
        fetch('/video')
            .then(response => {
                if (!response.ok) {
                    throw new Error('Network response was not ok');
                }
                return response.blob();
            })
            .then(blob => {
                // Create a blob URL
                const blobUrl = URL.createObjectURL(blob);

                // Assign the blob URL to the video element
                const videoElement = document.getElementById('videoPlayer');
                videoElement.src = blobUrl;

                // Revoke the blob URL when the video is no longer needed
                videoElement.onended = () => {
                    URL.revokeObjectURL(blobUrl);
                };
            })
            .catch(error => {
                console.error('There has been a problem with your fetch operation:', error);
            });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Explanation

Backend Proxy:
- The server-side code sets up a proxy endpoint /video that fetches the video from the original source URL and streams it to the client.
Client-Side Fetch:
- The client-side code fetches the video from the proxy endpoint instead of directly from the original source. This way, the original source URL is not exposed to the client.

Using Signed URLs with AWS S3

If you are using AWS S3, you can generate a pre-signed URL that is valid for a short period.

Server-Side Code (Node.js with AWS SDK)

const AWS = require('aws-sdk');
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const s3 = new AWS.S3();
const BUCKET_NAME = 'your-bucket-name';
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;

app.get('/video-url', (req, res) => {
    const params = {
        Bucket: BUCKET_NAME,
        Key: 'path/to/your/video.mp4',
        Expires: 60 // URL valid for 60 seconds
    };

    s3.getSignedUrl('getObject', params, (err, url) => {
        if (err) {
            return res.status(500).send(err);
        }
        res.send({ url });
    });
});

app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`Server is running on port ${PORT}`);
});

Client-Side Code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Video Playback with Signed URL</title>
</head>
<body>
    <video id="videoPlayer" width="100%" height="100%" controls></video>
    <script>
        // Fetch the signed video URL from the server
        fetch('/video-url')
            .then(response => response.json())
            .then(data => {
                const videoElement = document.getElementById('videoPlayer');
                videoElement.src = data.url;
            })
            .catch(error => {
                console.error('There has been a problem with your fetch operation:', error);
            });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Published on: Jul 06, 2024, 06:53 AM

Techniques to Protect Video Source URLs in html pages