Security recommendation .htaccess

The Site Security Recommendations recommend that you add the following to an .htaccess file and place in your folders:

#.htaccess to prevent unauthorized directory browsing or access to .php files
IndexIgnore */*
<Files *.php>
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
</Files>

Now, I've seen references throughout the forums here (after someone got hacked) to use the following to prevent directory browsing and access to files:

OPTIONS -Indexes -ExecCGI

My question, do both of these do the same thing? Is one more efficient than the other? Should they both exist in the .htaccess?

OK. Looks like you should only use OPTIONS -Indexes -ExecCGI in a directory that has image files. It shouldn't be referenced in any other folder. Older posts (can't seem to find them anymore) had some conflicting information about this.

Well, you only need to use .htaccess to prevent Directory Browsing if that is permitted on the server your site is hosted on - and it should not be permitted for obvious security reasons.

Best advice is to contact the host and get them to turn it off server-wide.

Vger