I often have a need to secure a single page (i.e. Reports) on a public facing app so that only authorized users may access the page. In the past, this mean setting up a custom login form or using the ASP.NET membership provider or something else far too complex to serve the purpose. Is there an easier (safe) way to secure a single page in this fashion?
Some things I’ve considered:
- Client certificates (initial setup is a pain)
- A single master password (works in a pinch, but feels dirty)
- Restrict access by host address (cumbersome when the need arises to allow external users access to the page). Also, need to support access via proxy (X-Forwarded-For) which can be faked by technical users)
Are there other options? Recommendations?
You can do it in your web.config file something like what is suggested here. As far as authentication is concerned the easiest way is to use windows authentication.