Viruses On Dedicated Server

[matthewamzn]

I have an image hosting site running on my dedicated server (unix with plesk 7.5.3). I'm concerned about viruses, as many people are uploading and downloading files. How can I improve the server?

[roldar]

Don't let anybody upload non-jpeg/gif/png files?

[dutch_dude]

Also make sure you send the file to users with the correct MIME type, or bad browsers (read: Internet Explorer) may interpret it by looking at the contents of the file and bad things can happen at the user's side.

For example: someone could upload a html file with a .jpg extension and Internet Explorer would then show the html file contents as coming from your site.

Also, do not trust the Mime type the user's browser sends when uploading a file, it can be faked. If a hole is left, someone could comprise your server.

Look for mime type exploit on google to read more on this.