Backup interactive scripts on the production web server must be prohibited.

Copies of backup files will not execute on the server, but can be read by the anonymous user if special precautions are not taken. Such backup copies contain the same sensitive information as the actual script being executed and as such are useful to malicious users. Techniques and systems exist today which search web servers for such files and are able to exploit the information contained in them. Backup copies of files are automatically created by some text editors such as emacs and edit plus. Having backup scripts on the web server provides one more opportunities for malicious persons to view these scripts and use information found in them.